Ranger UnMasked
by ShyMaia
Summary: Ranger has hidden a lot from the world, including a wife! There's not much the quiet mercenary can do when Mrs.RangeMan hits town except try to hold onto her. CUPCAKE FRIENDLY!
1. Chapter 1

_**As you know, Janet Evanovich owns her characters, I do not. I absolutely love her Plum Series and decided to play with her characters on my own. This story is told by someone I've made up; Rachel Manoso. I hope you enjoy it, it's my first FanFic. ~ Maia**_

**Chapter One ~ Going Home**

My name is Rachel Manoso. I've been away from Jersey for approximately ten years. Well, other than short visits here and there anyway. Jersey is home, where all my roots are laid, but not _'Home Sweet Home'_, if you know what I mean.

When I left it'd felt like I'd never want to return to the busy, dirty, little state. But, here I am. Cruising through the old streets, smiling at old haunts and enjoying all the things I'd forgotten about Jersey life.

I guess the old saying is true, you can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the girl. Go figure.

Truth be told, I wasn't here because I wanted to be. I'd returned home because it finally felt like it was time to turn the page and move on. Ten years had to heal some wounds, right? A girl couldn't hide from her home forever. There would always come a time when you had to face the music. It was inevitable.

Hitting the play button on my CD player, and checking my reflection in the rearview mirror, I drove down Hamilton Street in my silver _Porsche Carrera GT_ and tried to feel confident about what I was about to do. _Disturbed_ screamed back at me as I maneuvered the sleek sports car through traffic, keeping a watchful eye out for just about anyone I'd know - or remember - from my past. People always found you when you went home. They seemed to pop up whether I wanted them to or not. You just couldn't hide in Jersey.

I checked the GPS on my dashboard quickly then pulled up next to a beat up, rundown strip mall. Gazing over the tops of my _Gucci_ sunglasses at the building before me I paused a moment, checked the GPS again then exhaled quietly. "You've got to be kidding me." I said to myself then with a shake of my head pulled my car in behind a black SUV with tinted windows.

Turning the _Carrera's_ motor off I stared at the black SUV and nibbled on my lower lip briefly before climbing out of the car. In front of the black SUV was a beat up burgundy _Jeep Wrangler_. I eyed the car curiously, wondering what the owner had hit to make it look the way it did then dismissed it.

Plum Bail Bonds was my destination. I was a bounty hunter, or a BEA, Bond Enforcement Agent, to be more precise. I wasn't looking for a job, but a person. I had a business in Texas that kept me busy, my bank account booming. I was good at what I did, probably because I'd been trained well, and by the best.

This trip wasn't about a bond, but a man. My estranged husband to be more specific. His name is Ricardo Carlos Manoso. Most knew him as Ranger on the street.

Glancing back one more time at the black SUV parked curbside I felt my insides flutter a moment. The SUV belonged to Ranger. I knew it did just like I knew the man wouldn't be happy to see me.

Ranger was _never_ happy to see me.

As luck would have it I wouldn't have to wait long to bump into Ranger. The God's must've been shining down on me because Ranger wandered out of the building just as I started towards the door. He was with a woman, about my height, shoulder-length curly brown hair and blue eyes. They were engrossed in conversation so I didn't do or say anything for a moment. It wouldn't take long for Ranger to notice me though, it never did.

He'd looked relaxed, for Ranger, until he saw me. His hand had been at the small of the woman's back as he'd guided her down the short walkway. Upon seeing me though, Ranger stopped and stared, his hand falling away.

"What?" The woman said to him, then turned towards me, curiosity covering her features.

At any given time a person could look at Ranger and never know what he was thinking or feeling. He had eyes that could bore right into you, make you feel like he could see into your soul. It was unnerving and tended to jostle some a bit. I wasn't one of those people though. Ranger didn't faze me. Not in the way he did others. He frightened most just by being himself, the mercenary, heart-throb slash killer he'd reputed himself to be. I knew Ranger better. I knew he had weaknesses, and one of those weaknesses happened to be me.

He closed the distance between us slowly, his eyes shaded by the reflective sunglasses covering his face. The woman lingered behind him, confusion covering her features as they both approached.

Neither one of us said a word as we sized each other up. It'd been a long time, a very long time since I'd seen Ranger last, and in our last meeting things hadn't gone well. Things never went well when we were together. That's why we spent all of our time apart.

Finally, he spoke. "What are you doing here?" There was no emotion behind the words, just a direct question...


	2. Chapter 2

_**As you know, Janet Evanovich owns her characters, I do not. I absolutely love her Plum Series and decided to play with her characters on my own. This story is told by someone I've made up; Rachel Manoso. I hope you enjoy it, it's my first FanFic. ~ Maia**_

Chapter 2 – Confrontation

"Looking for you."

"You could've called."

I shrugged indifferently. "Lost your number." The corners of his mouth tightened. "Is this a bad time?"

He smiled smugly. "You and a bad time are synonymous."

"Oh, you wound me." I tossed back. "You're just ticked off about New Orleans." His chocolate brown eyes darkened. There was no reason I had to play fair either.

"This has nothing to do with New Orleans."

Now I was grinning from ear to ear. "Doesn't it?" We went through a quiet battle of wills until he finally looked away, the brunette behind him clearing her throat. She was obviously uncomfortable with how the air, and the situation, had changed. I didn't blame her.

"Now's not a good time." He said to me, turning when the woman stepped up and between us.

"Hi." She greeted, extending her hand with a cautious but curious smile. "I'm Stephanie Plum."

I looked down at her offered hand then over at Ranger. He shook his head half an inch from side to side in warning. "Rachel." I replied.

"You're one of Ranger's friends?" The woman seemed genuinely clueless, and absolutely giddy with the idea of my husband having a friend. Her baffled reaction puzzled me though, and then I figured out why.

"Friend. Right." She had _no idea_ who I was.

"He never mentions anyone other than Tank, Hal and Erik. I didn't know –"

"Steph," he said quietly and she stopped, looking back at him. That was my queue.

"Obviously you have your hands full." He moved towards me, sensing my departure so I knew I needed to get away quickly.

There was a pull between the two of us, and it usually emerged without warning, knocking me off balance. It always seemed to show up whenever we we're parting ways. It hurt turning away from it again and again. This time I felt the urge to rub my hand over my heart in hopes of pushing the ache away, but I resisted.

"Where are you staying?" He asked, breaking the trance.

Turning back I lifted one shoulder, let it drop. His frown deepened. "I'll find you." I replied, knowing he wouldn't be happy with that then turned to smile at Stephanie. "Nice meeting you."

"You too." She said still looking very confused.

I unlocked the _Porsche_, climbed inside and started the car. Checking traffic as I pulled out, I fought the urge to glance over at Ranger on the sidewalk. I knew he was watching me. And would continue watching as soon as he caught up.

* * *

I was standing in the doorway off my terrace, contemplating the sunset with a glass of Chardonnay when I heard my security system go off. I knew who was in my apartment, so I didn't bother to check the computer screen to my right, nor did I move from where I was standing. Ranger was capable of disengaging the system in the blink of an eye.

Sipping my wine I sighed softly and shifted in the doorway. I was wearing a pair of low-cut jeans and a white tank top. My hair was pulled away from my face and I'd just scrubbed it clean, readying to turn in and off for the day.

I didn't hear him come up behind me, but I felt his presence and smelled him.

"If this is a social call there's wine on the counter." I said turning my head slightly to the right. "If it's not," I focused on the sunset again. "You know where the door is."

"Already dismissing me." I sipped my wine. "I don't know why I'm surprised."

"I stopped surprising you years ago."

"Untrue." He replied quietly. "I didn't expect this."

I turned slowly and faced Ranger. "How did you find me so quickly?" He smiled. Ranger could find anyone, anywhere. Just give him five minutes. "Asshole." Pushing away from the doorway I started for the kitchen but he grabbed my wrist, his touch gentle. I looked down at his hand then back up into Ranger's face expectantly.

"Why are you here?"

"You know why." Shaking his head, Ranger let my wrist go. "You didn't actually think I was here to reconcile, did you?"

"You've wasted a trip." I clenched my teeth together, stared at him a long, frustrating moment then went to put my wineglass down before I hurled it against the wall. "How long have you been here?"

"Long enough."

"Watching me?" I turned towards him with a smug smile. "Fuck."

"It's gotta burn not knowing I was here."

"You know I didn't."

"Un-fucking-believable." Ranger rolled his eyes and fixed his here we go again look firmly in place. "The pupil out smarts the mentor." I chuckled.

"Laugh it up." He shot back, clearly not amused.

"Got some loose ends to deal with down in Dallas, don't you?" His look was lethal. "I won't tell you how easy it was to lose them. That would be bragging." And I was, bragging that is.

"When did you leave Dallas?" I shrugged. He didn't really want to know. That'd just piss him off more. "Come on, for shits and giggles sake… a week? Two weeks?"

"Why? Haven't your men been reporting back to you regularly? You had to know I was out of town." His beautiful eyes darkened. "_Ohhhh_..." I said smiling. He hadn't. "They didn't even tell you they lost me." I watched Ranger run his fingers through his hair and pace away. This wasn't good for the employee or employees assigned to me. Someone had made Ranger look like a fool, and he _never_ looked like a fool. For the ones who'd dropped the ball, they could only hope firing was all Ranger had in store for them. The alternative could prove to be much more painful, and no one wanted to live their life without limbs.

Walking over to my briefcase I hesitantly removed the documents I'd had redrawn before leaving Dallas. I knew this was going to make things uglier, but… Hell, why drag on the inevitable?

Approaching Ranger I looked down at our divorce papers. They'd been detailed carefully. Whatever we brought into this marriage, we left with. Anything we'd made after we'd separated was untouchable. I wanted Ranger's assets less than I wanted Ranger at this point. He could ride off into the sunset, blow into the wind like the smoke he was. I just wanted the damn divorce.

He glanced over at me as I held them out to him then grimaced and turned away. "It's time." I told him.

"No."

"Bud, don't do this." I pleaded.

"Don't do what?" His expression was emotionless, but his eyes spoke volumes. His heart was breaking.

"Don't fight this anymore. You know I'm right. It's unhealthy for us to carry on the way we do. It's time to let go."

He slapped the documents out of my hand and turned to me. A lesser woman would've been frightened by what she saw in Ranger's eyes. "How easy is this for you?" Here we go again. "I've given you everything you've asked. You have your freedom. I don't interfere in your life." I flashed him a look and Ranger rolled his eyes. "Much." He corrected then paced away. "I just don't understand why you need this."

"And I don't understand why you don't!" I exclaimed. "It's the next step –"

"The _next_ step? There are steps to this? Where are we heading, Rachel?"

"We're not." I told him simply. "That's why you need to sign the papers."

"No." He said shaking his head. "No."

"Bud –"

"Rachel, there's no way in Hell you're going to get me to sign those papers."

"Why?" I cried. "Why do you insist on keeping us in this limbo? This isn't healthy for either one of us."

"I'm fine with it." I shook my head at him, frustrated beyond belief.

"Don't you want to be in a healthy relationship? Isn't there someone in your life that you want to be with, entirely?" He stared at me a moment then looked away.

"Yeah," he finally answered. "You." His eyes met mine and this time I turned away. Did murder _have_ to be illegal? "Turn away all you want, baby. It's the truth."

"You're impossible."

"No. You've got that backwards." I turned around and glared at him. "I want to fix this, to make it right, but you keep pushing me away."

"I wasn't the one who destroyed our relationship, Manoso."

"No, you're right. I did that. But you're making damn sure it's never mended now, aren't you?"

"I don't know why I bother." I mumbled then bent to pick up the papers scattered on the floor. Grabbing a pen from a nearby table, I pushed it and the papers against Ranger's chest and crumpled them there with a force I hadn't known I had. I was dying inside for him to take them, to touch them and acknowledge that they existed. He just let them fall to the floor again when I let go. "Oh, you're killing me!" I cried running my fingers through my hair, frustrated enough to bawl.

"Do you want to know why I won't sign those papers?"

I spun around. "Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please, for the love of God, tell me!"

"This is why." He said grabbing me by my shirtfront and pulling me to him. I almost got out the word _no_ before he crushed me against him and kissed me.

_Almost_.

When I was in Ranger's arms the world always seemed to tip on its axis and stay there for a while. He had a way of stripping down my defenses, melting my self-made armor and destroying the walls I put up. With a single kiss he could turn my world around and make me feel like I'd die instantly if I didn't cling to him and hold onto whatever it was he had to offer.

He was my addiction. The drug I couldn't quite get out of my system, or get over. And he knew it, because my venom ran through his veins as well.

When he moved away, he rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes trying to steady his breathing. "You've got to stop that." I said to him and he smiled.

"You can't get over me either."

"I'm trying. This is just physical."

He moved away, his chocolate brown eyes fixing on mine. His touch was gentle as he cradled my face in his hand. "I don't want you to. I won't let you."

"No shit."

He pressed his lips against mine again and I moaned softly as our tongues touched. "_Te quiero_," he whispered - _I love you_ - against my lips. His touch was feather soft as he let his hands drift down my arms to my waist, pulling me closer to him. And I wanted to be close to Ranger. When I was with him I felt safe, loved, cherished. He was the only man who'd ever understood me and accepted me regardless of my flaws. Neither one of us was perfect. We both knew that. We liked to pretend we had it all together, especially with others, but on the inside we had our own issues.

Knowing this, and remembering how much of a nightmare we were as a unit, I pushed Ranger away. "No," I said against his lips. "_No_." I repeated a bit more firmly when he tried to dive in for more. "I can't do this."

"Rachel," he breathed, but I moved away, far out of his arms. Pressing my fingers to my warm and tingling lips, I shook my head and covered my face with my hands. _Good God, what was I doing_?

"You always do this."

"Do what?"

"Turn this physical until I'm so twisted up inside I can't see straight." I felt him approach me and mentally begged him not to touch me.

"Baby, we've been married ten years. How can you just walk away from that?"

"Easily, Ranger." I said spinning back around. "Very easily. We don't live together. We hardly ever speak. I can't remember the last time I spent time with you and we didn't argue, and then there's the bullshit down in Miami." Ranger's eyes darkened again.

"Don't drag her into this."

"Don't drag her into this?" I yelled. "We're where we are because of her!"

"No. Our relationship is crap because we made it crap. It's got nothing to do with my daughter."

I narrowed my eyes at him and clenched my teeth. "I wasn't talking about Julie. I was talking about her _mother_." Ranger inhaled slowly then turned away. "How could you think I'd blame an innocent child?"

Shaking his head, Ranger moved to the couch. "I don't know," he replied, suddenly looking exhausted. "I know you wouldn't. I'm sorry." He fumbled.

"I have no problem with Julie." He nodded his head then ran his fingers through his hair. "My problem is with you and Julie's mother."

"That's over. You know it's over." He insisted.

"Oh, I know it is. I made sure of that, but what I can't get over is the fact that it ever happened."

"Can't or won't?" He asked looking over at me.

"Does it really matter?" His frown deepened. "Have you been one hundred percent faithful since then?"

"Have you?"

"Would it bother you if I hadn't?" The look on his face was deadly. "Oh, so it's okay for you to sleep around, but I can't?"

He advanced on me then. "Have you slept with another man?" I said nothing. "Have you?" He demanded.

"That's none of your business."

"You're my wife!"

"Your _estranged_ wife." I corrected. "One you haven't lived with for seven years, and one who wants a divorce, might I add!" Ranger cursed. "So have you?" I asked again.

"Have I what?"

"Been faithful!" He grew quiet. I stood there shaking my head and I tried to ward off the pain that came with knowing. "Does she mean something to you?" Still he said nothing. "Then let me go." I breathed, begged, pleaded…

"She matters one tenth to me what you do."

I shook my head at him again then wandered over to the terrace doorway. "It's the woman you were with earlier, isn't it?" Again, nothing. "I could tell by the way you touched her. You never touch anyone."

"She –"

"I don't want to know." I said turning back to face him. He looked doubtful. "I don't. But know this," I said advancing on him ever so slowly. "Not once, _ever_, have I wanted to, needed to or desired to go to bed with another man. It's always been you."

"Rachel." He reached for me.

"Just go." I said waving him away. I was done with him. "Leave me alone."

"Rachel." He called out to me as I started upstairs. I was bone tired, too tired to continue with him tonight.

Then I stopped, but only for a tiny bit of clarification. "I don't want you to come back here until you're ready to sign those papers."

"That'll never happen."

I sighed heavily. "Goodnight, Ranger."

"Never, Rachel… do you hear me?" He called out.

But I'd already gone into my room and closed the door…

_**Thanks for much for reading! I hope you're like things so far. Much more interesting things will happen in coming chapters. **_

_**Leave a comment!**_


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning it felt like I was up with the chickens. My first two weeks back in Jersey had been filled with sleep filled nights. There'd been no stress, no worries, nothing to keep me from relaxing and drifting off when my head hit the pillow. I might watch a bit of TV, read a book or flip through a fashion magazine. Last night though I'd been lucky if I'd gotten two hours of sleep.

And I blamed it on Ranger.

Every stinkin' minute of every stinkin' hour I'd lain awake had been filled with him. No matter how hard I'd tried I couldn't get that kiss out of my head. Nor could I rid myself of the emotions and needs that'd arose after the man had invade my senses.

It was always like that with my husband. Had been since the first day I'd met him. He'd walked into my personal space and staked his claim right from the get-go. When Ranger set his mind to something, or someone, he never let go.

Deciding a full on exorcism was in order, I rolled out of bed, dressed myself in black nylon shorts and sports bra then topped the combo with a pink t-shirt and running shoes. Heading down into the living room I spotted the divorce papers still sitting on the table, unsigned, and shook my head.

_It wasn't like he was going to sign them before leaving, Rachel. He's too stubborn for that_.

Still, I'd let myself hope. The fool I was.

Grabbing my iPod and my front door key I headed out for a run. I figured the only way I was going to rid my body, and mind, of Ranger for the day was to beat the man out of system. And to do that I'd needed to run. Running was always my cure for the impossible.

I started off with some warm-up stretches then headed off at a slow jog. When I felt my muscles beginning to loosen up, I upped my pace and shut the world off. It was just my body and the movement now. Some women did Yoga or Pilates, others worked out on machines or did aerobics. I'd tried all and nothing did the trick like a good old fashion run.

I loved the feel of the morning sun on my face, the air crisp and filled with promise. I'd focus on the here and now, like the grass being green or the sunrise coming up in the distance. I'd listen to the birds, if I wasn't killing my eardrums with _Nickelback_, lust after the floral gardens I'd pass or just… breathe.

Running always seemed to settle my soul. Each pounding step I took on the pavement felt like another step away from my troubles. Someone had asked me once if I was running towards something or away. I couldn't have answered that if I'd tried. When you ran to soothe a broken heart, there really was no direction to take. You just moved forward and prayed that one day the pain would go away.

Today I set my sights on the park. There weren't many people in the park at this time of morning, only the early risers or the rare dog owner on poop duty. I liked it that way. There was no one to stumble across my path, draw my attention or slow me down.

Don't get me wrong. I love baby filled strollers and toddler toting mother's who looked frazzled. I even understood the annoying ice cream and hot dog vendors, the transients taking up time and space. Really, I did. _Just not during my morning run_.

There was no one there this morning, besides man in a business suit already barking orders into a cell, his skinny mocha latte and briefcase in hand. Shaking my head I turned up _Chad Kroeger_, thanked the heavens above that I wasn't one of the people that had to punch a time clock, and upped my pace even more.

I'd just rounded the third bend and was watching a flock of geese take flight out of the pond when I heard the distant sound of a dog barking to my left. I probably would've heard the man's warning had I not been so engrossed in the geese. Instead I took the dog's full body tackle completely by surprise and hit the ground with a resounding thud.

"Oh crap. Shit. _Bob_!" The man yelled. The dog had to weigh ninety pounds, was all orange fur, floppy ears and tongue. He'd started out licking my arms and was happily working his way up to my face when the guy grabbed him by the collar and yanked him forcefully off my upper torso. "Oh shit. Are you okay?" I was checking to make sure all my fingers were still attached when he held out a hand to me. "I'm _so_ _sorry_."

"_Sonofabitch_ –" I said wiping my hands on the grass, trying to rid myself of the gobs of dog drool covering me. "Do you have a license for that creature?"

The guy smiled at me. "Bob gets a little excited when he sees a pretty lady." I shot him a narrowed look. "I'm truly sorry." He said again. "Here, let me help you up."

"I'm fine." I told him as I got to my feet, but Mr. Tall Dark and Handsome helped me just the same.

And he _was_ all that. Tall, dark skinned – probably because he was of Italian decent – and incredibly handsome - in that bad boy, hide your daughter, sort of way. This guy oozed sexuality and trouble out of every pore, yet at the same time felt safe.

Looking down at the dog, I frowned. "What is that thing?"

Mr. Wonderful smiled at the orange creature then back at me. "I haven't quite figured it out yet. I'm told he's a dog, but to me he's just Bob."

"Bob." I said looking down at the drooling, tail-wagging freak of fur standing next to him. "That's an odd name for a dog."

"I know. Not something I gave him." Shaking my head I looked around in search of my sunglasses then slammed into him when we both bent down to retrieve them from the grass. "_Sorry_." He said smiling again, my sunglasses in hand.

"Thanks." Was all I could manage then shied away when he reached up to pull one of my earphones out of my ponytail.

"Just trying to help."

"I think Bob's helped enough." He grimaced.

"Look, I'm really sorry. Bob gets excited when he sees people in the park this early in the morning. Especially when it's a woman."

"Are you saying I'm not the first he's accosted?"

"You're the prettiest, I can tell you that much." I shot him a steely stare and he chuckled. "Ooo-kay. Flattery isn't gonna buy me forgiveness, so how about I just introduce myself and we start over?"

"I didn't realize we were beginning."

"Bob took care of that."

"Do you send him to tackle all the pretty women you come across in the park?"

"Not usually. He has his own agenda most of the time." I rolled my eyes and unclipped my _iPod_ from my shirt. "Joe Morelli." He said extending a hand. I eyed the hand warily and he grinned. "I won't bite. Promise."

"Your bite doesn't bother me, Mr. Morelli. It's Bob I'm scared shitless of."

"Please," he said with a groan. "It's either Joe or Morelli. My father was the mister in my house." I couldn't help myself, I smiled. "There you go." He said grinning. "I knew you'd come around."

Sighing softly I took his hand. "Rachel Manoso." His smiled dimmed a bit.

"Manoso."

"That's right." The smile faded even more. "Do I know you?"

"No."

I stared at him a moment as he did the same then an understanding hit me. "You know Ranger." He looked away and sighed. "Do you work for him or are you a cop?"

"The latter."

"Gotcha."

"Sister, cousin, niece…?" I stared at him. "Exactly how related are you to Ranger?"

"Only through marriage." He swallowed before he choked on his spit.

"Not yours…" he trailed off as I nodded. "_Holy shit_." He looked away, his gorgeous blue eyes as big as saucers. "Wow."

"Guess he never mentioned me."

"Uh, not really." I smiled. "Which shouldn't be surprising since no one really knows Ranger."

"Uh-huh."

"Now you don't sound surprised."

"Not really. Most people think they know my husband one minute then in the next they're wondering who the strange man is standing next to them."

"He's one scary dude."

This time I grinned. "He doesn't scare me."

"I find that impressive." I threw my head back and laughed. "No. Seriously. The man's a mercenary. He's here one minute, gone the next and has a tendency to make the uncontrollable, controllable. Plus he has the resources of a god."

"You tell him all that and he'll get a big head."

Joe grinned. "How'd you lasso such a bad dude? You don't look like the Ranger type."

"Does Ranger have a type?"

"I wasn't even sure Ranger liked women, to tell you the truth." I laughed and we started walking together. "Wow." He said again with a shake of his head. "This just makes my day."

"Why is that?"

Morelli looked off into the distance thoughtfully. "I don't know. Maybe it's because Ranger has been a thorn in my side for about a year now."

"Really." He nodded. "What's he done to tick you off?"

Morelli glanced over at me briefly before answering. "He works with my girlfriend." I did one of those mental head slap things internally and laughed.

_What a small fucking world_.

"Stephanie Plum."

"You know her."

"We've met." I said tucking my iPod into my shorts pocket. Bob caught a whiff of something over by the pond and ran off to investigate. Morelli and I stopped walking and watched him.

"How long have you and Ranger been married?"

"Too long." I replied and felt Morelli's eyes on me.

"Funny how he's never mentioned you."

I looked him square in the eye. "Is he involved with your girlfriend?" Morelli said nothing and I nodded my head. "Good looking guy like you has gotta hate a guy like Ranger sniffing around your property." Bob the dog was chasing after a butterfly. _What dog did that_?

"Stephanie and I have a strange relationship."

"What's strange about it?"

"Just about everything and anything you can think of." I smiled. "Listen, do you want to get a cup of coffee?"

I looked up at Morelli and shook my head. "I really don't think that'd be appropriate, given the circumstances and all."

"It's just a cup of coffee, Rachel." I lifted one shoulder and dropped it carelessly.

"I'm trying to live a Ranger free day today."

"I can appreciate that." He said with a smile and whistled to Bob. "Why don't you give me a call sometime if you change your mind. And not to talk about Ranger either." He reached into his back pocket producing a business card. "Call if you need a friend."

"A friend." I repeated eyeing the card.

"Of course." He said smiling when Bob approached again. "Any new friend of Bob's is a friend of mine." I glanced down at Bob then back up at Morelli. "Besides, I'd never turn down coffee with a pretty woman."

"A flirt."

"Till the day I die." He replied with a grin then wandered off. Bob and all…


	4. Chapter 4

_**As you know, Janet Evanovich owns her characters, I do not. I absolutely love her Plum Series and decided to play with her characters on my own. This story is told by someone I've made up; Rachel Manoso. I hope you enjoy it, it's my first FanFic. ~ Maia**_

I was at a red light talking on my cell phone about an FTA to an employee when a large, black SUV pulled up next to me. Deciding giving him any attention would be a step in the wrong direction, especially when you were trying to live a Ranger-Free sort of day, I chose to ignore my husband and put the pedal to the metal when the light turned green.

Unfortunately for me, this didn't faze Ranger in the slightest. He stuck to my tail all the way to my townhouse, parking his big, black monstrosity across my driveway after I'd shut off the _Carrera's_ engine.

Getting out I eyed Ranger warily then ended my phone conversation. "Change your mind?" I asked him as he approached. Ranger just smiled. _Figures_.

"I hear you had some trouble in the park this morning."

I'd just gone to the grocery store and was busy with the bags in the trunk of the car. Grabbing a couple of them I inwardly stewed. "I didn't realize you'd already put me under surveillance." _And godamnit why hadn't I_?

"You're slipping." He said taking one of the bags from the car and closing the trunk. If my hands hadn't already been full I would've yanked the bag from him and punched Ranger square in the face.

"You know, I couldn't care less." The corners of his mouth lifted slightly and I rolled my eyes as I walked past him. "Just leave the bag there. I'll get it in a minute."

"So rude." He said following along.

"I learned _that_ from the best as well."

"Baby, I'm always a perfect gentleman."

"Mm. Even when you're stealing another man's woman." He reached out a hand and spun me around.

"Whatever Morelli told you don't believe it."

"Sorry. Sounds like the same old story, just a different day to me."

"You know better."

"I know he's worried about you, and if he's worried there's got to be a reason." Ranger stared at me a quietly a moment.

"Stephanie and I work together."

"Among other things, I'm sure." I said turning away.

"You're jealous."

"In your dreams, Manoso." I mumbled, pulling my key from my pants pocket. "The little I've learned about Stephanie Plum tells me she's a train wreck on a daily basis. If you're attracted to someone like, whatever. I wish the both of you nothing but fucked up happiness."

"Liar." The look of indifference I shot him riled Ranger so he advanced on me as I went into the townhouse.

"Shut the door behind you!" I called out cheerfully. He followed me into the kitchen and watched as I deposited my grocery bags, clearly amused when I was forced to take from him the one he'd carried inside.

Removing an apple out of one of the bags I took a big bite then pointed towards my desk. "Papers are right there."

"And there they will stay."

I shrugged my shoulders and continued to chew my apple as I put groceries away. "Suit yourself. I'm not leaving until you sign them."

"That breaks my heart." He replied, approaching me as he did, moving in _really_ close. "Maybe if you stick around for a while you'll see again that I'm really not such a bad guy." He peeked into my grocery bag and I crumpled it closed.

"No amount of time is going to change my mind or how I feel, Ranger. I want that divorce."

"We can't have everything we want."

"You bastard." I said trying to shove him away. He grabbed my wrist gently, took my apple and bit into it. "_Ugh_." I grumbled letting him have it. "You know," I said, an idea coming quickly to mind. "I could always start charging Rangeman for my stay here. I have been running up quite the bill," my matter-of-fact tone didn't seem to faze him. He continued to chew my apple, watching me. "Renting this place is expensive. Add the car and everything else…" Ranger smiled, unfazed.

"My money has always been your money, sweetheart. You know that." I narrowed my gaze. That'd been a waste of my time.

"I don't need your damn money."

He nodded. "You've made that abundantly clear."

"And I don't need you." He said nothing. "I don't." I reiterated.

"Babe, you need me more than you realize." He was so cocky and _infuriating_!

"I hope a stray bullet catches you in the head on the way home."

"Now that's not nice." He said taking the last bite out of my apple and tossing it in the trash. "I was thinking we should go out to dinner sometime."

I turned towards him and gawked. "Like on a _date_!? _Ha_! I think I'd rather poke my eye out with a stick."

He walked over, turned me to towards him and hooked his fingers in my jeans, pulling me close. "Don't joke like that. I die every time I look into your eyes."

"Could be because of the daggers shooting out of them." He flashed me a very sexy grin, one brilliant enough to stop my heart.

"It's the love I find there."

"You need glasses."

He bent close to me, his lips a whisper from mine. "I need you."

"If you needed me so badly you wouldn't betray me time and again with countless women." He froze, the change in his body telling me I'd hit a cord. "I know you're involved with Morelli's girlfriend. You can't honestly believe I'd let you eat your cake and have it, too."

"Like I said earlier, whatever Morelli said to you –"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Blah, blah, blah." I replied shoving him away. "I'd rather take him up on his invitation for coffee than your idea of dinner any day."

"Excuse me?" He said grabbing my arm, his fingers biting into flesh.

"You heard me."

"He invited you to coffee? Does he know who you are?"

"Of course he knows."

"Did he ask you to coffee _before_ or _after_ learning you're my wife?"

I smiled. "After." Ranger's eyes darkened. "He's a good looking guy, that Joe Morelli. Good enough to eat."

"I'll kill you both."

I made a tsking sound with my tongue as I shook my head at him. "Turn about is fair play, big boy. You fucked his girlfriend so maybe Morelli wouldn't mind some payback." As soon as the words were out of my mouth I knew I'd gone too far.

The air in the room changed then to violent. Ranger advanced on me, pushing me back against the refrigerator with enough force that I hit my head. I'd closed my eyes and started to count the stars there when I felt his hands come up on either side of me, trapping me as he glared fiercely down into my face.

"You even think about taking Morelli up on that _coffee_ invitation and I'll kill him."

"You don't scare me."

"Honey, lets get something straight, you should be _very_ frightened right now." And I could see it in his eyes. Ranger meant business. "Stay away from Morelli."

"Who are you trying to protect?" I asked tipping my head to the side. "Stephanie or me?"

"That answer should be obvious."

"Always protecting the wrong one." He looked like he wanted to strangle me.

"Joke all you want, babe. I'm only going to issue the warning once." My eyes met Ranger's and held. "You're _mine_. I don't care what's been going on between us. That simple fact remains the same and always will. If you go near Morelli, if you encourage him in any way, shape or form, I'll see to it he's moving through life in a wheelchair. Just for the fun of it."

"You can't tell me who I can talk to, what I can do."

"I believe I just did."

"Doesn't mean I'll listen."

"It's his funeral." I stared at Ranger quietly and listened to my heart beating wildly in my chest.

"I hate you."

"No you don't. That's your problem. You wish you could, but no matter what you tell yourself you just can't wrap your heart around hating me."

He left soon after that, his warning still vibrating through the air leaving me cold.

I knew Ranger meant business. And while I'd teased him about protecting Stephanie, I knew that wasn't the truth. He wasn't the kind of man to issue idle threats. Nor was he the type to share what belonged to him, and I was pretty sure Morelli wasn't either.

So what kind of person was this Stephanie Plum? It was obvious she had Morelli and Ranger wrapped around her little finger. But, what did that mean? How serious was Ranger's relationship with this woman, the one who _pretended_ to be a bounty hunter.

Running my fingers through my hair I glanced over at the phone and worried my bottom lip. Picking it up, I dialed Morelli's number and waited. He answered up on the second ring.

"Are you alone?"

"Just me and Bob."

"Do you know who this is?"

"Of course." He replied, and I could hear a smile in his voice.

"I need some information from you."

"Okay."

"And I've got to warn you, Ranger's not happy that we've met or that you've invited me to coffee." Morelli chuckled.

"Can't imagine he would be."

"He's threatened to cut your legs off at the knee caps."

"Painful."

"I just wanted you to know this before we go any further." He was quiet.

"I can handle Ranger." I wasn't sure he could, and I was pretty sure Morelli wasn't sure he could either, but we both needed something from each other and were willing to sacrifice whatever it took for that help. "What do you need, Rachel?"

"Not over the phone. But you've got to understand, he's got me under surveillance."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"Why?"

"Ranger's very protective of what he considers his."

"Including Stephanie." Joe said nothing and I closed my eyes. "So you understand the risk if you meet with me?"

"Sweetheart, I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" I questioned, my voice very quiet as I continued to worry that bottom lip, concerned not only for Morelli, but myself.

"You're worried about me." I smiled at the phone.

"I wouldn't want him messing up that handsome face of yours."

"He only mentioned my legs."

"That was after he mentioned killing us both if we…" and I trailed off.

"If we…" he repeated and I grinned. "Well, that might be worth dying for." I gave him my home and cell number then disconnected. I wanted to rush off and meet with Morelli right then and there, but knew that'd be too risky. There was a pretty good chance that Ranger was parked outside my door.

Watching, waiting and preparing for whatever it was he was brewing…

_**Thanks for all the positive comments! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Stay tuned for more! **_


	5. Chapter 5

I wasn't one to hide from a challenge, or wallow in my sorrows. I enjoyed my life, my friends and at one time my freedom. Tucking myself away inside my townhouse with the shades drawn, patiently waiting for the black SUV at the end of the street to disappear wasn't going to get me anywhere.

So, watching the vehicle over a cup of coffee, I pondered the situation. I was pretty sure whoever was inside wasn't Ranger. He was too busy a man to watch over his wife twenty-four-seven. There had to be some other unlucky thug on wife-watch duty today.

Finishing my coffee, I gazed out the living room window and waved down at the driver. I was pretty sure he was looking up at me, but there was no movement from inside. Even after my cute little wave. "Very unsociable." I whispered with a smirk and turned away.

Heading up to the bedroom, I grabbed my cell phone from a side table in the living room and dialed Morelli's cell number.

"Well, isn't this becoming a habit." He answered optimistically.

"Maybe I just like the sound of your voice." He chuckled. "Are you working?"

"Heading there."

"Are you free at some point today?" Morelli was quiet a moment. "I'm sure I can lose the gorilla outside my window if you can spare me a few minutes." Still nothing. "Uhm… are you there?"

"Contemplating life without my legs."

"Oh, come on now. It wouldn't be that bad in a wheelchair. I'm sure you could find yourself a nice little woman to keep you warm at night, take care of your physical needs, feed you…"

"Are you applying for the job?"

"I'm already trying to rid myself of one mistake, thank you very much." Morelli gasped.

"That hurts. How do you know I'd be a mistake?"

"Any man in my life would be a mistake."

"Another commitment phobic woman." He grumbled.

"Run into them often?"

"Only like, every other _minute_." He said on a sigh. "Look, I don't know how I can help you with your Ranger situation. I don't know the guy all that well other than to say that he's insane and a royal pain in my ass."

"Because of your girlfriend."

"Because he's _Ranger_." I plopped myself down on my bed and stared at my feet. I needed a pedicure. "I will say though that it's good to know the guy isn't totally perfect."

"Don't let him fool you. Ranger's about as far from perfect as a man gets."

"Spoken like a true woman."

"Wife," I corrected and he laughed. "Please, Joe. I really need a friend here, someone who knows what's going on between him and Stephanie."

"And you think that person is _me_?"

"You're closer to her than anyone else, right?" His end of the phone was quiet. "Help a woman out here. You want to keep your girlfriend and I wanna rid myself of my husband."

"Yeah, I'm not all that sure how this is gonna work out, me helping you rid yourself of Ranger and all. I'm thinking that with him free, romantically speaking, means he can do whatever he wants. How's that gonna help _my_ love life?" He had a point. "And how exactly are you planning on getting rid of Ranger?"

"Well – "

"Are you talking divorce? Mob hit? Should I hook you up with some cinderblocks?" I laughed. Not only was he cuter than cute, he was funny too. "Because an inquiring mind wants to know."

"Yours?"

"Bob's."

"I guess you'll just have to meet me for the full scoop." Complete silence on the other end of the phone. "You wouldn't want to disappoint Bob, would you?" Morelli groaned.

"This conversation is not starting my day off well." He sighed heavily. I'm sure deep down Morelli really wanted to help me in any way he could, but this was Ranger we were talking about. The risk was phenomenal. "Look, I'll be at Pino's during Happy Hour. I'm gonna wait exactly twenty minutes for you at the bar. If you don't show up, I'm leaving. _With_ my legs."

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, gorgeous. I haven't done anything." And with that he disconnected.

Next on my list was a call to my wonderful husband. He picked up faster than Morelli.

"Yo."

"I can't believe you still answer the phone that way." He was quiet, but I knew Ranger was smiling. "I'm going out for a little while. Should I tell you my itinerary in advance?"

"No need."

"Because Godzilla out there in the truck will enlighten as I go?"

"Planning on getting yourself into any trouble?"

"Trouble, _hmmm_... I hadn't given it much thought really. I am however meeting up with Morelli later on." The phone went deadly silent. "I really don't think Godzilla is going to be able to keep up with me though. I just wanted to warn you in advance."

"Don't under estimate me or my men."

"Oh, baby. I totally know what you're capable of, but I really think you've forgotten how good _I_ can be."

"I haven't forgotten a thing. That's why I'm _not letting you_ go." _Fuck_. How could I walk myself into something like _that_?

"Just don't kill junior Bruno out there when I leave him in the dust in a little while." I said peeking through the blinds and down at the SUV. The guy still hadn't moved.

"Don't toy with me, Rachel."

"What are you afraid of, bud? What is it you don't want Morelli to tell me?"

"What Morelli tells you is irrelevant. What you do with Morelli to get even with me is the issue."

"Ahh… so the truth comes out. You're afraid I'll become attached to that hunky little cop like you have his walking disaster. Well, to each his own I guess. At least if I do hook up with Morelli it'll be because he's smart, capable and _monogamous_."

"I'm on my way over there."

"Don't bother. I'll be gone by the time you get here."

"_Rachel_ –" But I hung up.

"There." I said grabbing my jacket, purse and gun. "That ought to settle his day a bit."

I headed downstairs and went to the kitchen. After rinsing out my coffee cup and putting it in the dish drainer to dry, I applied some lip gloss, fussed with my hair and called myself _good to go_.

After locking up the townhouse I secured the alarm system, cheerfully skipped down the steps towards the SUV in the distance and stopped curbside. Smiling, I waved at the goon sitting inside. He was talking on the phone, probably to Ranger and not entirely prepared for anything I was about to give him.

Especially not the two bullet holes I shot into SUV's passenger-side tires. Front and back.

"Fuck!" I heard him yell as he threw the phone onto the dash. Turning, I walked away and pulled my cell phone from my pocket when it rang.

"_Yoooo_." I answered with a grin, absolutely _delighted_ with myself.

"Did you really just shoot out his tires?"

"Come and see for yourself." I told him then hung up…


	6. Chapter 6

_**Again, I own nothing! JE owns her characters, I just enjoy playing in their world. ~ Maia**_

Shopping was a luxury, one I enjoyed only when I could find the time. Given the fact that I had plenty of it in Jersey, I cheerfully tucked my _Porsche_ into a storage unit across town, caught a cab to a local dealership and paid cash for a brand new black _Toyota Highlander_.

_Hey, did I know how to shop or what_?

After I'd secured all the paperwork on the SUV, I drove across town to the address listed on the internet for Stephanie Plum. It was a standard block style apartment building. Three floors, no muss, no fuss. Looked like something a senior citizen would enjoy more than an aspiring bounty hunter. Cheap rent, low maintenance.

In other words, cheap, cheap, cheap.

"Fascinating." I said to myself then continued on.

What was it about this woman that had attracted Ranger? Certainly she wasn't difficult to look at, but supermodel, Stephanie Plum was _not_. My sources told me she stumbled into trouble, and often, and that usually she came out it smelling like a rose.

Maybe she had a helper when things got sticky. Maybe that helper was Ranger. Maybe my husband was the one keeping Stephanie safe more than her boyfriend Joe Morelli. If that was the case, Stephanie Plum's cop friend _really_ didn't know what he was up against. Ranger rarely attached himself to anyone. He had his family, his daughter and his business. Plum must've slipping in a backdoor.

If Ranger had attached himself to Stephanie, and was sharing some type of relationship with her, or harboring feelings for Ms. Plum, then I might be in over my head as well. Ranger never let anyone close to him go. The only way you got rid of my husband was by death or disappearance, and disappearing didn't always work. Ranger had ways of finding people that didn't want to be found.

Deciding I really needed to do some more homework on a couple of parties, I called into my main office in Dallas. Kathleen, my office manager, answered on the second ring, a smile in her voice. "I didn't expect to hear from you so soon." She said instead of hello.

"Seems I need your expertise."

"Sure. What can I help you with, darlin'?" Kathleen had worked for me since I'd started off on my own in the business. For years she'd been a vice cop, but had decided that being at my beck and call produce a much cushier paycheck.

She was single, dependable and an information guru. If you needed the goods on someone, whether they were near or far, Kathleen was your woman. She had _Internet Goddess_ tattooed on her ass in fuchsia, and proudly showed off her derriere to anyone questioning her abilities.

"Who're we looking for?"

"We're not really looking for anyone," I said pulling the SUV over and parking. "I just need some background on a couple of people."

"Where are they?"

"Here."

"Names?" I gave her Plum's and Morelli's, waited while Kathleen scribbled them down. "Gonna give me a hint or point me in a direction?"

"I want anything and everything you can get on the two of them, especially on Plum. She's a BEA, Morelli's a cop."

"Interesting," she drew out the word curiously. Kathleen loved doing background checks on cops.

"Yeah, and I think Ranger is boffing Plum." Kathleen inhaled deeply. I could almost hear her chair creak as she leaned back and chewed on that statement a moment.

"Has this been confirmed?"

"Just a hunch." I said opening a bottle of water and sipping.

"Are you sure you don't want me up there?"

I smiled. Kathleen was always up for a road trip. "You know I motor better when I'm alone."

"I know, I know. Just tossing that _female support_ option out there." You had to love Kathleen. She was a master at support. She'd roll into town with a bottle of vodka, chocolate cake and a handful of sappy movies if you wanted her to. "Have you finally connected with your elusive husband?"

"Quite a few times actually."

"That must've been a treat."

"He was _definitely_ surprised. Especially when I handed him the divorce papers."

Kathleen was quiet a moment. "I don't understand why you insist on going through with his, Rach. You know you still love him."

"Maybe it's the little adultery issue...? I tend to get caught up in it a bit."

"He loves you."

"He loves himself." Kathleen sighed heavily into the phone. "Has he contacted you?"

"No. Should he?"

"He might. I wouldn't put it past him. He's looking for all the help he can get."

"Sleep with him. I bet you'll change your mind." I laughed.

"I'm not sleeping with Ranger. That'll just fuck my head up even more than it already is."

"Promise?" I disconnected and stared off into the distance. I wasn't touching that with a ten-foot pole.

Business wise, Kathleen was an asset in every way, shape or form. As far as my personal life, the woman knew too much. She _loved_ Ranger, adored him as a matter-of-fact. She, like many others, had been sucked in by my husbands good looks, devilish charm and amazing body. I, too, had been there at one time and knew that once you sampled Ranger's goods, you were spoiled for all others.

Until he burned you anyway.

Falling in love with Ranger had come fast and hard. It was like I hadn't even been given a choice. He'd snuck into my heart, blown through my defenses and pulled me to him with the ease of a pro. I'd loved that man with everything I had, and at one time believed he felt the same for me. I knew who and what Ranger was before we'd ever said our 'I do's'. We'd been enlisted together, _Special Forces_, and when Ranger had left the military to branch out on his own, I'd joined him.

Did I regret my time with my husband? Not one bit. We'd spent two great years living a fast paced, energy buzzed life that never bordered on boring. We worked when we needed to, the job usually coming first, love filling the cracks and soothing the hurts work like ours brought on.

I found in Ranger the only person who would ever understand me. I knew he loved me, regardless his shortcomings. He'd been weak. _Once_. And that weakness was now something I could never forgive or forget. I'd tried, Lord knows I had, but seeing my husband in the arms of another woman, a woman who would miraculously produce his first child, ate at me.

Julie is beautiful. She has her mothers beautiful hair and build, her fathers eyes and coloring, and a smile that could light up even the darkest sky. I harbored no resentment towards Ranger's daughter. It wasn't her fault she existed.

No, I blamed Ranger. I blamed him, Julie's mother and myself for letting all of this happen. I never should've let him leave that weekend. He'd been angry with me for taking on a job he'd believed too dangerous. My ego had fueled our fight; his ego had fueled their affair.

Pushing the painful thoughts out of my head I turned over the Highlander and started down the road again. I'm not one to enjoy sweets, because I believe your body is a temple, but felt an ice cream was in order. I felt detached, unloved and useless suddenly. And only ice cream could cure that kind of despair.

After buying myself a chocolate cone with sprinkles, I settled myself into a plastic lounge chair and people watched. In my line of work people watching was a skill. I'd learned a long time ago how to blend in with my surroundings, and while doing so, I watched everyone surrounding me.

There was very little you couldn't learn about a person when you watched them closely. You could tell if they had money, were educated or were just having a bad day. By watching a mother and her children, I could tell by the shifts and changes in her face, her body language or attentiveness with her little ones whether or not she was a good parent. First impressions, never doubt them.

Like now, there was a woman sitting in the small courtyard next to the creemie stand. She had a pink stroller with a tiny baby sleeping inside. She looked lost and troubled, like the world had suddenly crashed down upon her shoulders.

She was very pretty, but looked absolutely exhausted. I'm sure if she could've climbed inside that stroller with her little one, she would have.

In her hand was a cup of ice cream. Nothing fancy, just vanilla, no sprinkles or sauce. Clearly not for the baby given how little she was. Maybe the mother was suffering from a guilty conscience, just like me. I thought again about approaching her, but she was staring off into space so strangely, completely withdrawn and lost in her own world, so I kept my distance.

The ringing of my cell phone grabbed my attention, but not enough for me to ignore a beat up, late model gray sedan pulling into the lot. Watching as it skidded to the curb, dust flying, I silenced my ringing cell and felt my body go on alert.

There were two men in the car, but I couldn't really see the driver. The passenger, an averaged height male with brown hair, poured out of the vehicle, the look on his face lethal as he headed towards the girl.

Shifting my eyes towards the woman, I saw her quickly snap out of her trance, cold-blooded fear covering her face. Taking another bite of my ice cream, I watched quietly as the woman started to get to her feet, rushing suddenly to get away from the man.

"You think you can do this to me?" He yelled at her.

"N-no, Eddie. Don't listen to them. I didn't do anything."

"Bullshit, you lying bitch!" The woman reached for the baby stroller but he yanked it out of her reach, startling the child inside. "You don't deserve my baby."

"Eddie, no!" she yelled reaching again for the stroller and her child. "I didn't do anything, I didn't say anything. I promise!"

"I don't believe you." I didn't know what was going on, and because I'd made myself practically invisible, the couple hadn't seen me. It wasn't until I saw the gun that my heart stopped in my chest, my blood going cold. "You know what we do to lying, cheating bitches like you?" The woman held up her hands, but it was too late. He fired.

Dropping my ice cream cone I fumbled for my gun. The guy had picked up the stroller and was running across the grass towards the waiting car. "Hey!" I yelled. He turned while removing the baby from the stroller and fired off a round at me. It missed me, marginally, and only because I dove to the grass to dodge it. "_Oh my god_." I said getting to my feet and rushing after the car, gun still drawn. Again I was too late though. The car rushed out of the lot and down the street, tires squealing.

Turning around I glanced at the empty stroller then over at the woman lying awkwardly by the bench. "_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck_." I mumbled rushing over to her and pulling out my cell phone. My first thought was 911, my second Morelli. Why I'd thought of him, I couldn't tell you, but it was Joe that I ended up calling first.

"You again?"

"I'm at the ice cream parlor over on the corner of Cedar. A woman's just been shot." I said dropping to one knee, assessing the situation. "Oh my god, Morelli. I think she's dead."

"Are you alone?" I pressed my fingers to her neck but I couldn't find a pulse.

"Yeah. We were the only ones in the courtyard."

"Hang up. Call 911. I'm on my way."

"Hurry." I disconnected, called 911 and gave my information. I had my shirt off and was pressing it against the wound in the woman's chest when I heard the first sirens in the distance. "Oh please, God. Don't let her die." I glanced back towards the empty stroller, all the while reciting the last four digits of the license plate in my head. It'd been all I could read on the plate. The rest had been covered in mud.

A blue and white cruiser and an ambulance pulled up to the curb just as a crowd had started to gather. I was still talking to the woman and applying pressure to the wound when Morelli pulled up behind the cruiser and hit the ground running.

"I don't know. I think she's dead." I said shaking my head at the first officer on the scene.

"Move over, ma'am," I didn't move, didn't want to. As long as I held onto her this wouldn't be real. "_Please_… let us help her now." One of the uniforms told me as he took over, the other helped me to my feet and out of the way. I'd seen many people shot before, but nothing like this.

"Rachel," I heard Morelli say from behind me and turned. He immediately wrapped his arms around me and moved us both away so the EMT's could get in. "Are you okay?" He asked, checking over my arms and torso. I was covered in blood; my hands, my pants, tank top and face. I had this poor woman's blood all over me.

"I'm not hurt. I wasn't any where near her when she was shot." Morelli looked over at the EMT's and frowned when one of them turned and shook his head.

"_Oh god_." I whispered and he pulled me close again.

"Come on. Let's go over here. I need to ask you some questions." I followed him over to his car. He was just about to start asking questions when a big black truck skidded to the curb, Ranger jumping out.

"What's _he_ doing here?"

"I called him." I looked up at Morelli, flabbergasted for a moment. _He called him_?

"Are you alright?" Ranger called out, quickly embracing me and holding on tight.

"I'm fine." I replied, turning into him for a moment. He smelled good, so familiar and masculine that my body started to react regardless of the circumstances.

"You're covered with blood."

"Not mine." He moved away, looked down into my face and cursed quietly before brushing my forehead with a kiss and letting go.

"I need to ask her some questions." Morelli said from behind me.

"Not now." Ranger replied.

"Yes, now. She's the only witness to a homicide –"

"I'm taking her home so she can clean up first." Ranger argued.

"No!" I said moving in between the two of them. "I want to do this now and get it over with."

"Rachel," Ranger breathed touching my hair, pleading with me silently. I shook my head at him and he turned away. It was then that I saw Stephanie standing by the truck, watching all of us closely. She must have been with Ranger when Morelli had called.

Disgusted with Ranger, I turned to Joe and frowned. "Can we do this somewhere else?"

"Sure." He said glancing over at Stephanie then Ranger. My husband was freaked beyond words and working towards a good mad. I could already see the wheels turning in his head.

"You shouldn't have called him." I said to Morelli when we were a good distance away.

"Common courtesy. He does the same for me." We wandered over to a blue and white, watched for a minute while the EMT's moved the body to a gurney, pulling a sheet over the woman's head.

Turning away I closed my eyes and tried to ward off the image in front of me. Just a few minutes ago she'd been staring off into space, rocking her baby in the stroller. Now all that was left was the empty stroller, her melted ice cream and a sheet covered gurney. "You sure you're okay?" Morelli asked.

"I'm fine."

He stared at me quietly then sighed. "You look horrible." I glanced down at myself and shrugged. I'd looked worse. "So tell me what happened."

"I can't tell you for sure. I was eating an ice cream cone and she was sitting over there with her baby when a late model gray sedan pulled up."

"Where's the baby?"

"He took it. Shot at me while holding it in his arms." I stared at the empty stroller. There was an officer standing next to it, but it hadn't been touched. "Not much was said. He called her names, made some accusations and then they tussled as he yanked the stroller away from her."

"Any idea what they were fighting about? Did you talk to her at all before he showed up?"

"No, I didn't talk to her, but she seemed pretty rattled. The baby was sleeping."

"Can you tell me what he looked like?"

"Twenty-something, with short dark hair, maybe about five-eight, five-nine," Morelli was jotting things down in a notebook. "He looked a lot like a gang member, but I'm not sure. He mentioned '_we'_ when he was yelling at her, accused her of being a lying, cheating bitch." I sighed heavily, my heart finally starting to beat a normal pace again.

"Was he driving?"

"No. Someone else was driving the car, but I didn't see him." Morelli nodded then turned when an officer called out to him.

"I'll be right back." I watched him walk away then ran my fingers through my hair. This wasn't turning into one of my better ice cream moments.

Walking over to the _Highlander_, I reached into the backseat and removed a black duffel bag I always carried with me. Pulling out a _Special Forces_ t-shirt, I turned when Ranger approached.

"New vehicle."

"So much for being incognito." The corners of his mouth almost lifted into a smile. We both turned when the ambulance pulled away, lights flashing but no siren. Closing my eyes I shook my head. "Such a waste." I said pulling the t-shirt over my head enough so that I could remove my tank top. Ranger moved into the doorway of the _Highlander_, blocking anyone's view.

"Your arm is cut."

I looked down at it and shrugged. "The least of my worries."

"You want me to drive you home?"

"Not necessary."

"I'd feel better –"

"_I said_… it's not _necessary_." I repeated, patience waning. "I'm a big girl who can take care of herself." Ranger stared at me a moment then turned to look over at Morelli. If looks could kill, Joe would've been dead ten times over.

After tucking the shirt into my pants, I was just closing the car door when Morelli returned. "You're good to go, but if you remember anything, give me a call." I nodded my head and watched as he and Ranger had a silent exchange.

Moments later Ranger was over talking to Stephanie, the two of them looking tighter than two ticks on a dog's behind. I tried to strain my ear to hear what was being said, but I was too far away. Something about their posture didn't sit well with me, so I quickly turned away and watched the police work the scene.

Glancing down at my hands and noticing again all of the blood on them, I rounded the _Highlander_ and pulled out my keys. I'd just unlocked the door and opened it when a hand shot out from behind me, the door slamming shut.

Closing my eyes, I slumped my shoulders and turned towards Ranger. "_What_?" He stared at me quietly, his eyes filled with enough emotion to rock my world. "I'm going home."

"_Right home_?"

"What are you worried about? It's not like I can witness two murders in one day."

"You'd be very surprised." Rolling my eyes I looked down at my car keys. His concern was misplaced. I was fine and knew I'd always be fine as long as he stayed far away. I could handle a murderer. I couldn't handle Ranger when he was overwhelmed by emotion.

"I need to go." He nodded his head, brushing his fingers over my cheek as his eyes searched mine. In that moment all that'd happened in the past melted away. It scared me feeling this vulnerable in Ranger's company. I knew he sensed it, felt his heart reaching out to mine, begging me to let him in. Thank god I was stronger than I realized, because I was not going to cave, not today. Today would be a very bad day to let Ranger have his way.

Turning away from Ranger, I climbed into my vehicle and pulled on my seatbelt. He closed the car door for me, tapped it twice and took a step back. As much energy as it took me to walk away from him, I'm sure it took him even more to let me go…


	7. Chapter 7

_**JE owns her own characters, not me! Sorry I've been delayed in posting - busy weekend! Enjoy! ~ Maia**_

I slept most of the afternoon and woke just as twilight was settling in. Sleep hadn't come easily, even after a long, hot shower. So I'd taken an OTC sleeping aid to help knock my butt out, drifting off on the couch.

As soon as I woke, and before I'd even opened my eyes, I knew I wasn't alone. There was a quilt now draped over my body, a light turned on in the kitchen.

And in the chair at the foot of the couch sat a very quiet, contemplative Ranger.

"How long have you been here?"

"A while." He said quietly, his voice drifting through the darkness and into my ears like a sweet song.

I moved to sit up, pulling the quilt around me as I did. "You didn't need to come."

"Shut up." Sighing heavily I shook my head. "My wife witnessed a gang murder today. I needed to come."

"I'm fine."

"You always tell me that, but the pills on the coffee table tell a different story." Not wanting to argue with him I pushed the quilt back and got to my feet. Feeling a bit woozy, I stopped and steadied myself before heading to the kitchen for a bottle of water.

When I turned away from the fridge, he was there. Lounging in the doorway in a pair of black slacks, a cashmere black sweater and leather jacket, he looked good enough to eat. "Got a hot date?" He just stared at me. "Not feeling very talkative, I see."

"Why did you call Morelli first?"

"Oh, I don't know, because he's a _cop_?"

"Most would've dialed 911. It's a natural response when things go wrong." I lifted one shoulder and let it drop as I sipped water. "You could've called me."

"He called you. You showed up. What's the difference?"

"The difference is you never think of me first when you're in trouble."

"Should I?"

"It'd _feel_ _nice_ to know my wife trusted me above all others." I snorted my response and walked by him and into the living room.

"The only person I trust in this relationship is myself."

"There's no one in this world who knows you better than me, Rachel. I'm the man you married, mine is the name you carry and sign to documents on a daily basis."

"I can change the name." I said flopping down on the couch again. "Intend to as soon as you sign those papers."

"You have no idea what it felt like today to arrive on that scene just after Morelli."

"Please. You're professional ego can take a few hits every once in a while."

"Fuck the professional ego, Rachel. My heart just about stopped when Morelli called and told me you'd been involved in a shooting."

I stared at him over my water bottle. "I'm _fine_."

"They found a bullet lodge into the siding of the ice cream parlor."

"So, he shot at me." Running his fingers through his hair, Ranger paced into the room and stood, hands on hips. "He wasn't a very good shot. He missed!"

"I don't like my wife getting shot at."

"Shit, I don't like _being_ shot at. All I'd wanted was an ice cream cone and some peace and quiet."

Ranger paused. "You were eating ice cream?" He smiled and I looked away. "What were you feeling guilty about?

"I wasn't feeling guilty about anything." His grin widened. "Stop looking at me like that."

"You only eat ice cream when someone's upset you or your feeling guilty about something. It wouldn't be the tire incident would it?"

"_For the love of God_," I said getting to my feet. "That goon deserved everything he got, and so do you."

"He's fine by the way."

"And I care, why?" Ranger grinned.

Walking over to the terrace doors, I opened them and let the cool air wash over my face. I still felt a bit groggy from the sleeping pills. I'd taken them feeling desperate when sleep hadn't come. Laying there on that couch, all I could see was that woman's face, her dead eyes half open as they stared up at me, ice cream cup still in her hand.

Glancing over my shoulder, I turned to Ranger. "Do they know who she was?"

"Emily Stoddard. Lived with her parents over off Fedders Street."

"And the boyfriend?"

"Eddie Lafontaine. Wanted already for armed robbery, grand theft auto and assault with a deadly." I shook my head and looked down at the floor. "His record is riddled with assault and domestic violence. Beat his mother once with a baseball bat, but she dropped the charges."

"Sounds like a real standup kind of guy." I said looking out the terrace doors into the night. "He shot at me while holding the baby." I said quietly.

"Little girl." I nodded. "They haven't found Eddie or the baby yet."

Turning back to Ranger, I frowned. "He didn't take the diaper bag, and he didn't have a car seat in the car. If he wants to take care of that child he's going to need things… formula, diapers, wipes, clothing and most definitely a car seat."

"I'm sure the authorities have thought of that."

"I hope so." We stared at each other a moment. "How many men have you assigned to this already?" Ranger was quiet. "Come on."

"The man shot at my wife."

"Doesn't mean you need to go after him yourself." Ranger's smile could be menacing when he turned it on. "You're impossible." I said with a disgusted shake of my head.

"Speak for yourself."

"I'm determined. Not impossible." I corrected, pushing myself out of the terrace doorway and heading back to the couch. Ranger caught my wrist as I tried to pass, pulled me to him.

The look in his eyes warmed me from head to toe. Inside I wished I could turn off that stupid part of my body that always reacted to him. I hated that he could melt my heart with one look, turn my insides to jelly with a single brush of his lips, and when he really put his mind to it? Ranger could rip down all my defenses and leave me in a puddle on the floor.

He gently cradled my face in his hand, gazed into my eyes like a husband would, not like an armed and dangerous mercenary. "You scared me today."

"We've been in worse situations together."

"I hate when you put yourself at risk."

"_I was eating an ice cream cone_."

"Should I buy you another?"

"Not feeling much like ice cream right now." I pouted. "Probably won't for a while." He smiled lovingly at me.

"That's a shame." He bent his head to kiss me, but I moved one step back.

"You showed up with Stephanie today." His eyes darkened.

"We work together."

"Is that the excuse you use all the time?" His hand dropped away and he straightened.

"She's with Morelli tonight, I'm with you."

"But you know where she is, don't you?" He sighed heavily and walked away. "I won't ask you to tell me she means nothing to you, because I know it'd be a lie." He looked over at me, the truth on his face. "How could you even _think_ I'd want to reconcile with a man that's involved with another woman?"

"What Stephanie and I share is nothing compared to what you and I share."

"The fact that you share _anything_ with her happens to be a problem for me." He looked down.

"She's a mess. It's endearing. I help her when she's in trouble, that's all."

"I wish I could believe that."

"Why can't you?"

"Because I see the way she looks at you. Stephanie Plum is in love with you." Ranger looked down again. "You already knew that though, didn't you?" I walked over to him and looked him straight in the eye. "How serious is it?"

"It's not."

"You can't tell me it's purely physical."

"What do you want from me, Rachel?"

"The truth."

He frowned. "Why? So you can hang that over me as well?" I stepped back and he closed his eyes, the truth in his words rattling me to the core. "I'm sorry. Look –"

"So you _have_ slept with her." He dropped his head into his hand. "Why I remain faithful is beyond me." I mumbled walking away.

"Rachel, please."

"Go away, Manoso. I want to be alone."

"I won't let us end like this."

I laughed. "We were over a long time ago."

He shook his head at me. "We're never going to be over."

"That's where you're wrong." I said advancing on him. "People don't fuck around on each other when they're married and in love, Ranger. They don't lie and have babies with other women, and they certainly don't continue to fuck around when they're trying to win their wife's trust back!"

"It's not like you're here for me."

I shot my hands into the air and glared at him. "That's your reasoning? That's pretty damn selfish, Manoso!"

He grabbed my arm and pulled me close. After glaring into my eyes he covered my lips with his and crushed my body in his arms. At first I clung to him, returned the passion with just as much desperation as he gave. Within moments though I realized what I was doing and shoved him away, slapping him as I did.

We squared off then, both of us angry enough to turn this physical. Instead of rage though, desire won over and we were in each other's arms again.

"I fucking hate you." I whispered against his mouth as his hands slipped under my shirt.

"I know." He answered, his hot and sexy mouth doing serious damage as his lips skimmed my cheekbone, devouring my neck, as his hands touched me in places only he knew where to touch.

I had his sweater halfway up his body, my hands moving over his hard and taut torso when his cell phone started ringing. Reaching into his pocket he checked the ID then silenced the ring, pulling me close again.

I let my hands explore him, my mouth joining my travels as I pulled his sweater over his head. It felt so good being in Ranger's arms again. Our desires were a perfect match, always had been. No one could bring Ranger the satisfaction that I did. _No one_.

I was pressing kisses to his torso as I drifted down his body, unbuttoning his pants as I licked, tasted, when his phone started ringing again. Glancing up at Ranger's face I saw his jaw clench and strategically reached into his pocket, slipping the cell phone out.

"Don't."

"Yeah, right." I said moving away, dodging him when he reached for the phone. Checking the ID, I felt my blood boil. All it said was, 'Babe".

Turning towards Ranger again I threw the phone at him, hitting him square in the chest. "You _sonofabitch_. Take your phone and your sorry ass and get the Hell out of here."

"Just let me find out what she wants." I shook my head at him and pointed towards the door. Growling, Ranger looked down at the phone, back towards me and flipped the phone open. "Not a good time." He said into the phone and listened. Moving about the room I gathered Ranger's coat, sweater and gun and threw them at him. "Come on." He said to me, almost pleading.

"Get your shit and get out of my house."

"Baby, please." I thrust a finger towards the door. "What?" He said into the phone. "When?"

"I can't believe I let you touch me!" I grumbled heading towards the stairs. He looked up at me.

"Rachel, _wait_." I flipped Ranger the bird and he shook his head at me. "Oh, that's mature." Something on the other end of the phone caught Ranger's attention, "What the Hell is that?" The hairs stood up on the back of my neck when Ranger looked over at me again. Something was wrong. "Steph?" I started up the stairs just as he hung up the phone. "Where are you going?"

"To get dressed. I'm going with you."

"No you're not. You're staying here."

Spinning around I walked over to my husband and got right in his face. "You owe me." He'd been fighting with his sweater and stopped to glare at me. I knew he didn't want me anywhere near Stephanie, wanted to keep the two of us as far apart as possible, but I wasn't giving him a choice.

"Hurry up then." Tossing him a look he smiled at me and watched as I rushed up the stairs. I'd be damned if I was going to let him walk off into the night to another woman's rescue, his libido in full swing after I'd just warmed him up.

And definitely not when the damsel in distress was the Ms. _Endearing_ Stephanie Plum.

After pulling on a pair of jeans, a lacy, lilac colored tank top with a low cut bodice and boots I rushed downstairs to join Ranger. He took one look at me and smiled. "Sexy."

"I'm not wearing this for you."

"Then who?"

"I'm hoping Morelli will be there." His smile vanished. "Hey, two can play at this game."

"Someone's going to get hurt." Grinning I slipped my gun into the waistband of my jeans, covered it with my top. "You're so fucking beautiful it hurts."

"Let's go save your girlfriend."

"I don't have a girlfriend." He said joining me at the door, pausing so that he could run a hand down my back after I'd slipped on my leather jacket. "I could eat you alive right now."

"You're girlfriend killed that for you."

"I don't _have_ a girlfriend." He growled and then we both rushed off into the night to check on Stephanie…


	8. Chapter 8

_**Again, I own nothing, JE's characters are her own.**_

The scene we came upon was much like the one from earlier that day. Only this time the woman covered in blood was Stephanie Plum, and I was the one getting out of Ranger's vehicle.

A _Porsche Cayenne_, not the stupid monster truck.

Once Ranger had the car parked, he hopped out, walking around the vehicle to help me. I watched him, very amused then I climbed my own little ol' butt out of the _Cayenne_ and shut the car door. "No need to woo me."

"Who's wooing?" He replied then turned towards the scene before us. _Mayhem_.

We started walking towards the crowd, both assessing the situation. "Fun." I mumbled.

"Let me know what you see."

"Yup." I replied walking off while he went to see about Stephanie.

This time the crime was at my favorite running park, most of the commotion over by jungle gym and swing-set. They'd brought in floodlights and taped off the area. I counted five police cruisers, an ambulance, Morelli's vehicle and a couple of unmarked cars as I moved through crowd. People were buzzing like crazy, amazed that something like this had happened in their park. Myself included.

_I was gonna have to find a new place to run_.

From what I could gather from the crowd, there'd been no one on the playground when the gunfire had erupted, and no one had witnessed the man running off with the child, but a couple of people had seen the late model gray sedan in the aftermath.

Adjusting the gun at my back, I walked slowly around the taped off area, listening, watching and registering faces, trying to get a better look at the scene and what was lurking around.

Over on the ground by the swing-set was a woman with blondish-red hair, mid-to-late twenties, a single gunshot to the heart her demise.

Eyeing Stephanie and Ranger in the distance, I frowned. She was filling him in on whatever she'd seen, obviously shaken to the core. I knew the feeling. I'd been there earlier that day and hadn't liked it one bit.

"Hey." I heard to my left.

Morelli was standing there watching me, "Hey yourself." I replied and we both turned to watch what was going on behind the _caution_ tape.

"Were you with Ranger when she called?"

"Unfortunately." He was quiet as they started moving the body onto a gurney. "Same MO?"

"Looks that way," he replied unhappily. "Don't know for sure yet if it's the same guy, but it looks to me like it is." I shook my head. "Someone's killing mothers and taking their children."

"That might wreck havoc all over Jersey." His grimace said it all. "Where was Stephanie when it all happened?"

"She was chasing an FTA through the park with her friend Lula."

"Huh. Ranger told me she was with you." Joe shot me a narrowed gaze.

"Stephanie is never where she's supposed to be." I raised an eyebrow at Morelli. "I know, I know." He said with a shake of his head. "I can't control her, and so far Ranger hasn't been able to either. Pair her with Lula and _shoot_…" he trailed off.

"Full time job?"

"You have no idea."

"Well, it's a good thing she's got you and Ranger to clean up her messes." _Said with a very severe tongue in my cheek_.

"Mm-hm," he inhaled, staring off into space. "You know, all I've ever wanted was a nice, quiet Jersey girl to take home to my mother." This time I couldn't help myself, I laughed out loud. Morelli looked like he wanted to throw up. "Excuse me," he grumbled. "I need to ask Stephanie some more questions."

Poor Morelli. Watching him walk away I felt my heartstrings tug a little for the guy. He certainly had his hands full, and he didn't look like the kind of guy who _liked_ having his hands full. Not they way they were anyway.

With that thought in mind, I shifted my eyes towards Ranger, saw him watching me very closely. After saying something to Stephanie and Morelli he made his way over to me and watched the ambulance drive off.

Again, lights flashing, no siren.

"Think it's the same guy?" I asked after the ambulance disappeared into the night.

"She seems to think it is."

I shook my head. "Doesn't make any sense."

"Murder rarely does." Crossing his arms over his chest, his penetrating brown eyes darker than the night sky, he frowned. "Did the guy say anything to your victim?" Again, I went through the story I'd told Morelli earlier. "Yeah, sounds like the same guy. Steph said vic number two was arguing with the guy about not cheating on him." I glanced over at Stephanie. She wasn't wearing half the blood I'd worn earlier, but she looked just as shaken.

"Does he know she saw him?"

"Hell yeah," Ranger scoffed. "She and her friend Lula heard screaming, and since they've deemed themselves _bona fide heroes_, they decided to get involved." Shaking his head he looked over at Stephanie, she was sitting on the hood of Morelli's car, an EMT was looking her over. While I wanted to believe Ranger was disgusted, there was an element of concern on his face.

"Is she alright?" He turned back to me, his famous blank expression firmly put back in place.

"She'll live," he grumbled. "When she tried to break them up he caught her under the chin with his fist. Lula's elbow is responsible for the nose. Apparently she elbowed Steph when they fell to the ground."

"_Geez_," I tried to stifle a laugh, but couldn't. Ranger looked down at me, eyebrows raised. "C'mon, bud. You've got to find _some_ of this funny. She's lucky he didn't shoot her too!"

"Tell me something I don't already know." We were quiet for a while, I was still giggling inwardly, Ranger was stewing. After about twenty minutes of standing in the wind I couldn't help myself, I shivered. "We can go if you want. Morelli's got this under control."

"You sure you don't want to drive _her_ home?" I baited. He didn't bite, which was disappointing. I'd ridden to the scene with Ranger, that didn't necessarily mean I wanted to _leave_ with Ranger. There was too much unfinished business between the two of us. Nothing I wanted to get into right now. It'd been a long ass day. "Listen, there's something else I remembered that I need to tell Morelli. I can probably catch a ride –"

"Don't." I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to argue, "I mean it."

"What I do with my time isn't any of your business, bud."

"And if I believed that, I'd sign those papers and make your life all sunny skies and pretty flowers. Forget it." I cursed under my breath. "I'll get Morelli and you can give him your _information_. After that, _I'm_ taking you home."

Hell, I tried. He wasn't going to leave me alone. That much I knew like I knew the back of my hand. Ranger was worried about my safety, and I was pretty sure he was just as worried about Stephanie's.

"You got something else for me?" Morelli asked as he approached.

"I was able to get the last four numbers on the license plate earlier. Sorry. Must've been more rattled than I thought and didn't tell you."

"It's fine. Happens more often than you think." _He was sooo sweet_!

"I couldn't get them all because the plate was all muddied."

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a piece of paper and pen. "Go ahead and give me what you've got. Anything's better than nothing." I rattled them off and he smiled. "Thanks."

Shifting gears, I tilted my head to the side. "I'm sorry we missed Happy Hour."

Sighing softly, Morelli peeked over in the direction of Stephanie and Ranger. "Yeah, me too. I didn't figure you'd show, not after this afternoon. I'd been sitting home watching a ballgame when she called."

"Lucky day for Homicide."

He chuckled. "Yeah, and I'm Vice."

"_No kidding_." He shrugged. "I'll have to keep that in mind the next time I witness a shooting. Wouldn't want to call the wrong cop. Lord knows I've already gotten my ass chewed for calling you instead of 911."

Morelli laughed then leaned in close, _real close_. "Hey," he said with a sexy smile and nudging my arm. All at once I could smell soap and his chewing gum. Nothing out of the ordinary, but _ohhhh the erotic thoughts_. "You can call me _anytime, _gorgeous." And with a wink he'd walked away, leaving me wishing I'd taken that gum.

A little while later, I was leaning up against the _Porsche_ and talking on the phone with Kathleen when Ranger walked up. I'd just given Kathleen what I had of the sedan's license plate in hopes she could work her magic and dig up something on Lafontaine.

"You almost ready to go?"

I held up a finger to Ranger and listened to Kathleen. "Did you find it?"

"Did I find it," she replied mockingly. "Give me something harder to do and then ask me that question."

"Well, _excuse me_." I grinned.

"Uh-huh. Timothy Mongeon," she started.

"Hang on a second, my pen isn't working." I waved at Ranger for help and he reached into his pocket.

"Is that Kathleen?" He asked with a smile.

"Ranger? Oh, tell that hot piece of manhood I miss him!" Kathleen cooed into the phone.

"I'm not telling him that." I shot back. _What the fuck was she thinking_? "Now give me the address."

"Come on, tell him I miss him." I slapped my hand loudly and impatiently against the vehicles hood. _Had the woman gone mad_? Certainly deep down she knew I'd rather die than toot Ranger's horn!

Rattling off Mongeon's address, Kathleen grumbled. "You're no fun, Rach, you know that?"

"Uh-huh. Find anything on an Eddie Lafontaine?"

"Lafontaine has no legal residence listed."

Ranger looked over my shoulder at what I'd written down and held out his hand for the phone. "What?"

"Let me talk to her a minute."

"What for?"

"I need to ask her something."

Glaring at him I handed Ranger my cell phone, but didn't let go right away. "No phone sex." He flashed me a sexy grin.

Catching Morelli's attention I waved him over, anxious to give him the information I'd gotten from Kathleen. As he approached, Stephanie followed right on his heels.

Grinding my teeth together I looked over at Ranger, he was still busy on the phone with Kathleen, flirting. I wasn't sure how to handle the situation. This was technically my husband's mistress. Yet, _was she_? I really didn't want her anywhere near me, especially when Ranger was standing so close, but what choice did I have?

"I had an employee do some digging on the car." I said to Morelli, he raised his eyebrows at me, moved by my efforts. "I have lots of time on my hands." I said with a shrug.

"Uh-huh." Now he was amused.

"The owner is Timothy Mongeon, he resides at 253 Hopper Lane."

"That's off of Slater." Stephanie piped in and Morelli nodded.

"Hopper is home to some new gang. I think they're calling themselves the Black Snakes." Ranger walked up then and handed me my phone.

"Black Snakes is correct, and Mongeon is their ring leader."

"Great." Morelli said shaking his head. "Tough group, certainly too tough for Lafontaine." Ranger nodded, glanced between me and Stephanie anxiously. She smiled at him, my eyes weren't so kind when he turned them my way.

"Did you get a name on the newly deceased?" I asked, pissed off and turning my attentions back to Morelli.

"Not yet. We do know that there was another little girl taken though." He replied.

"Has anyone gone to the local grocery stores or discount chains? Lafontaine took nothing with him when he took that baby earlier. He's going to need supplies, and he's going to need them soon."

"I believe we've got a couple of blue and whites staking out a few of the local stores. They've also posted pictures of Lafontaine around town." I nodded my head. "Don't worry, if he goes shopping, someone's going to see him."

I certainly hoped so. All I could see was Emily Stoddard's pretty face before Lafontaine had killed her. Someone needed to stop him, and soon.

"You know he won't go in for the supplies himself." Stephanie enlightened us, ending my thoughts.

I turned towards her, narrowed my gaze. "Stupid people do stupid things." I coaxed.

She smirked. _Game on_. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Please, surely you're smart enough to figure that one out." Plum took a step towards me, I followed suit and both men reacted.

"Cat fight" Morelli laughed and Ranger caught me under the arm. Maybe it really was time Stephanie and I had a chat. To my dismay, and obviously hers, Morelli swung her away and out of my reach.

Cat fight, _my ass_. Morelli just lost brownie points. I wasn't gonna scratch the bitches eyes out, I was gonna rearrange her smug little face!

Stepping into my view and catching me off guard, Ranger glared down at me. "Are you out of your damn mind?"

"Maybe," I shrugged. "Could be."

"Don't do this."

"Do what?" I asked feigning innocence.

"_Rachel_ –" I shrugged him off and turned back towards Morelli and Plum. She was still glaring at me, claws extended. I grinned at her but decided now really wasn't the time for us to dance.

When it looked like the situation had cooled, Joe let go of Stephanie. "I'll see what I can do about a getting a drive by together for Mongeon's residence. Maybe we'll get lucky." He told Ranger.

"I'll get Tank working on something as well." Another silent exchange between the two of them and then they turned towards us. "Think you two can play nice?" _Insensitive_ _jerk_.

Brushing him off, I focused my attentions on Morelli. "For a Vice cop, you sure do work Homicide well."

He smiled, albeit a bit nervously. "All in a days work." I flashed him my most _beautiful_ smile, one that caused him to blush from ear to ear, probably all the way down to his toes. Stephanie noticed the change in him and yanked him towards her.

_Now who was territorial_?

"Lula and I need a ride home." Joe shifted his gaze.

"Of course you do." He said on a sigh, the two of them finally walking off together, but not before Plum and I made it totally clear that we were far from finished.

As I walked over to Ranger's _Porsche_, I felt his eyes on me. "What?"

"_For a Vice cop you sure do work Homicide well_." I grinned at him. "Why don't you just throw yourself at the guy?"

"Did I come on too strong? I never like coming on too strong."

"Fuck." Ranger replied getting into the SUV and starting the engine. "I ought to kill all three of you right now, save myself the heartache."

Grinning from ear to ear, I removed my gun from my pants and tossed it on the floor. "I think he likes me."

"If he knows what's good for him, he'll get over it and soon."

"You're jealous." Ranger snorted his response. Ranger never snorted. "You _are_!" He cursed again. "Why is that?" I questioned. "It's gotta be tough watching both your girls fall for the same guy."

"I only have one girl and she's sitting right next to me." I rolled my eyes.

"I think he's sexy."

"I'm not listening to this."

"I bet he's faithful to Stephanie."

"Puh-lease…I told you, he's a bad boy turned cop. Don't let his good looks and gentlemanly demeanor fool you."

"He looks at her like the sun rises and sets on where she's standing."

Ranger glanced my way. "I look at you that way. You're just never paying any attention."

I leaned my head back against the seat and turned towards Ranger. He was sulking. "You've never look at me that way." I replied.

Ranger's expression softened. "Yes, I have," then taking my hand in his, he brought my fingers to his lips. "I still do."

Feeling my heart trip in my chest, I closed my eyes. "Why couldn't we ever get it right, bud?" Linking our hands together, Ranger pulled me close to him and pressed a kiss against my forehead.

"I love you." My heart fluttered again. "I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wish you'd stop with this divorce talk and help me move us forward."

Staring out the front windshield I frowned. "I don't know how."

"Let it go."

"I can't."

"Won't."

"What's the difference?" His arm came around me tighter and I rested my head against his shoulder. What was the difference indeed…

_**K, so a lot of you are asking if this is a Ranger/Stephanie story or will Ms. Plum end up with Cupcake. Sorry to disappoint the Babe Fans, but this really isn't going to go your way. I know this story is quite unconventional, but when I started it I was going for something different than what JE gifts us. Like I said before, she owns the characters, I'm just playing with them. **_

_**So, I'm sure a lot of you are gonna drop off from reading this, but I will carry on... I absolutely love this story! ~ Maia**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**JE owns her characters, I'm just playing with them! ~ Maia**_

We were quiet during the rest of the drive to my place. It was just us, the stars and a seemingly endless road crawling on ahead. _John Mayer_ sang quietly in the background, adding to the atmosphere and weakening my defenses.

When we finally reached the townhouse, Ranger shut off the engine and turned towards me. "I want to come up."

I started shaking my head. "I don't think that'd be wise –" He brushed his lips over mine. _I melted_.

"I don't want to leave you alone." Funny thing is, that's exactly what I needed him to do and on so many levels. I was tired, emotionally and physically. I didn't have it in me to fight with him tonight. Not even deep down in my badly un-pedicured toes did I have it in me.

"I'll be fine." His tongue traced my bottom lip, taunting me, tempting me, almost winning me over.

"I need you, Rachel." I moaned softly against his lips. This wasn't going to end well. "And you need me."

"I can't," I tried to push him away but he held on tight.

"We're married, baby. Where's the crime?" His lips worked their magic over my collarbone, touching on places I'd thought he'd forgotten.

"I'm trying to get you out of my life, not into my bed."

His hand cupped my breast, sending shock waves through my body. "One of these days you're gonna realize I'm not going anywhere." Dipping his head, he pulled the material of my shirt away from my breast with his teeth, letting his lips and tongue do the rest of the walking.

My head fell back against the seat as Ranger's fingers drifted down my stomach and between my legs. One half of my brain was screaming _no, No, NO_! – while the other half said the other word.

After a few minutes of that torture, his mouth found mine again, all hot and demanding. I was so close to the edge, his hands working my body into a frenzy I wasn't sure I'd live through. "Invite me up." He whispered as his tongue traced my earlobe. I moaned softly, absently shaking my head. "You want me, and I need you just as badly as the air I'm breathing."

"I-I…"

"Please, Rachel. _Please_." He begged.

Moving away so I could look into his eyes, I stopped all movement a moment and tried to think this through. When I couldn't, I kissed him deeply again and he pulled the keys from the ignition. "Don't move." _I wasn't gonna_.

Ranger climbed out of the vehicle, moved around the back like a sleek animal and opened the passenger side door. Once there he turned me towards him, captured my lips with his again and pressed his lower half between my legs. I just about saw stars right then and there, he felt _sooo_ good.

Lifting my butt off the car seat, Ranger kicked the door closed and held on tight as I wrapped my legs around him.

We stayed there in the driveway for a few minutes, kissing, lost in each other in the moonlight. I couldn't have pushed Ranger away now, not even if I wanted to. The love I felt for him had taken over. There was no logical thought, just feelings and deep-seated need.

At the front door Ranger took my key and unlocked the door. I was kissing his neck, running my fingers through his hair and enjoying the taste of him as he silenced the alarm. I loved the way his skin smelled, the way it felt under my fingers, his taste more intoxicating than any drink I'd ever consumed.

Once inside the apartment he put me down, pressed me against the wall and pulled my coat from my shoulders. "I'm going to regret this." I cried out as I removed his jacket and tossed his gun to the floor.

"Not in this lifetime." He told me as he bent, caught me under the legs and lifted me up into his arms.

"Just so you know, this doesn't change anything." I told him while he carried me up the stairs to my bedroom.

"Bullshit, this changes _everything_." He whispered, crossing the loft and laying me back on the bed. He moved away then and turned the bedside lamp on low. I looked up at him and he moved between my legs again, kneeling on the floor in front of me. "You're so beautiful."

"So are you." He bent his head, pressed his lips to the space in between my breasts and held on tight. There was nothing sexual about the embrace, just a man with his wife, holding her like he never wanted to let her go. When he moved away I looked down into his face and smiled. "We haven't been together in a _very_ long time."

"Too long," he replied.

Within minutes his shirt was off and he had my top up and over my head. Running my hands over his chest, he shivered, laughing when goose bumps appeared. I leaned forwarding and pressed my lips against his chest, brushed my cheek against the small patch of hair there as I undid his belt and unzipped his pants.

When my hand slipped inside, his breath caught in his throat and he chuckled as he stilled my anxious fingers. "Whoah-whoah… slow down, baby, or this won't end well." I smiled.

Brushing a kiss across his lips, I let him take it deeper and we both fell back against the pillows. "_Su mina_." _You're mine_, he whispered as he undid my jeans, pulling them from my body. Once I was down to nothing but my black panties, he smiled and traced a finger over the lacy swatch between my legs.

"You always did like it when I wore black."

"Correction, I _love it_ when you wear black." Bowing his head he pressed his open mouth against the small triangle covering his prize. I cried out and soon his fingers were underneath the material, his lips and tongue covering where I ached for him the most.

"_Oh baby!_" I cried out and dove over the edge, fingers bunching up the material from the down comforter under us. Once the wave had subsided I looked down at Ranger and he smiled. "Don't stop. Don't you dare stop," I begged breathlessly.

Crawling very slowly up my body, Ranger moved carefully along the length of me, his hands and mouth reclaiming every line and curve he crossed.

"I forgot how beautiful you are," Dipping his head, he took a taut nipple between his teeth. I closed my eyes, the familiar ache that I always carried for him brewing hotter and hotter the more he tormented.

Deciding it was my turn to dish out some sexual agony, I rolled Ranger onto his back and straddled him with a sexy smile. There was nothing between us now but the tiny swatch of material he'd toyed with moments before, no other clothes remaining.

Looking down into his expectant face, I saw love shining there strong enough to rip my heart to shreds. I didn't know if this was a good idea, I was already in way over my head. It killed me how he looked at me with so much trust, the promises in his eyes ones I wished I could believe. He'd failed me one time too many and I wasn't sure I could live through another.

His hands cupped my breasts gently as I rocked against him then without any notice he reached down, took the edges of my panties in his hands and ripped them off my body. My gasp had him grinning from ear to ear. "I'll buy you more."

"Maybe I won't wear any."

"That'd save time." Pushing himself up on his elbows, his lips found mine as he lifted my body and slowly slipped inside. Instantly we met and molded together. I felt myself relax, our bond sapping me of all energy.

_We belong together_, was all I could think as we started to move. This was a ride like no other I'd taken with him before. I couldn't remember ever being so aware of my husband, of the sounds he made, the way he breathed and reacted to my touch. His muscles bunching and flexing as I grabbed for him and held on for dear life.

I needed something from Ranger, and it was a need born from desperation. I needed to hear him tell me that it wasn't like this with anyone else. That no matter how many women he'd been with, I was the one he desired most.

"Tell me it's only us." I begged as we moved. "Tell me it's only ever been us, Ranger," I whispered, my hands cradling his face.

"Baby, it's always _been_, always _will be_ only you." He said holding me close. "No one can undo me like you can, Rachel. _No one_." I kissed him deeply and he shifted our bodies so that he could take over.

Wrapping myself around him, I let him love me, fix me, soothe the hurts we'd brought on these last few years. This was what it was like between the two of us when we pushed the world aside. This was what good love felt like when two people devoted themselves to one another.

This was the way I always wanted it to be with Ranger.

_This was the man I loved_.

"_Mi amor, usted es mi solamente amor. Te quiero_." I touched his face, brought him down so I could kiss him again. "You are, baby. You're my only love. There is no one else."

"I know." I whispered, holding onto him as the world drifted away, only Ranger remaining as our bodies spiraled forward, our passion turning more desperate. I felt like I couldn't get close enough to him, couldn't quite bridge the gap we'd formed and prayed that somehow, in someway, we'd get there again. _Even if only for a moment_.

As I grew closer to the edge, Ranger kissed my lips softly then pressed his forehead against mine. "Go over, baby… let go." I moaned softly and held on tight as wave after wave of ecstasy destroyed my body, dragging Ranger along with me.

In that moment, and while in my husband's arms, everything in the world seemed to clickinto place, felt perfect again. And for the first time in seven years, I wanted to believe there was hope…


	10. Chapter 10

_**JE owns her characters, I'm just playing with them. ~ Maia **_

When I opened my eyes the next day I felt rested, relaxed and incredible sexy. Nothing smoothed out the wrinkles like a good night of hard-core passion. And that's exactly how Ranger and I had spent ours.

We'd made love twice before falling asleep in each other's arms. Then at some point during our first "nap" Ranger delighted me by waking my sleeping body with a caress that bordered on sinful.

My toes had curled inward after that lovemaking session, and my sex god? He'd been completely depleted of all energy, so we'd passed out again. This time the nap lasting a little bit longer.

At a quarter to dawn I'd rolled over, turned towards Ranger and watched him sleep. He looked so calm and peaceful, like a child who'd had a truly wonderful and tiring day.

My heart which was newly filled with love for this man, ached a little all over again when I thought of all the pain we'd put each other through. I prayed that we wouldn't destroy what we'd just started to repair, but knowing the two of us I wasn't going to hold my breath.

He must have sensed me watching him, because he hadn't even batted an eyelash when he whispered, "Why are you watching me?"

"Because I can," I replied. He opened his gorgeous brown eyes, smiled at me sleepily then shifted into my arms.

That'd been the last time we'd made love.

Glancing over at Ranger's empty pillow, I frowned, but only momentarily. He wasn't in bed with me, but I knew he wasn't gone. I could smell coffee brewing and hear Ranger rustling about in the kitchen.

Not wanting to spoil whatever he had in store for me, I laid in bed patiently, reveling in the beautiful aftermath we'd created. My body was humming, certain other parts tingling. You know you've been loved good when you don't want to move. And considering how I felt? I could've stayed in bed for a week.

Smiling up at the ceiling, and feeling like a love-sick fool, I stretched out across the bed, kicked back the messy covers and thought only of Ranger.

The way we'd been together the night before had been glorious and left my heart flip-flopping in my chest. This was almost like falling in love again. _Almost_.

Ten minutes later I heard Ranger's quiet footsteps on the stairs and pushed myself up in bed. He appeared with a tray full of goodies and a smile on his face. I'd never seen him smile so much in all of our time together.

_Look at him, _I thought, _he looks as goofy as I feel_.

"You've certainly been busy this morning."

He set the tray down on the nightstand, slipped out of his pants then bent to thoroughly kiss me. "Good morning."

"Mm…" I said licking my lips. "Hello to you too. You taste wonderful."

"I've been sampling." I glanced over at the tray, my interest piqued and stomach rumbling.

"You haven't cooked for me since that first year we were married."

He poured me a cup of coffee and grinned. "I haven't cooked anything since that first year we were married." He handed me my coffee, took my free hand and kissed the tips of my fingers. "Just the way you like it."

"In bed." He winked at me. I took a sip of coffee, moaned with delight and closed my eyes. "You didn't get this from _my_ kitchen."

"I went out for a few things this morning."

"How thoughtful."

Sliding under the sheets next to me, he reached for the tray and placed it out in front of us. "I've got strawberries, blueberries, grapes and fresh melon." He picked up a carefully sliced piece of strawberry and placed it on my tongue.

Loving him for the effort, I leaned in and kissed him deeply. When I moved away his eyes had darkened. "Keep that up and we won't make it to the main course."

"Baby, you are the main course." I could tell he was having a hard time not ravaging me, so I turned back to the food, hoping to distract him. "You made french toast!"

"Your favorite."

"Oh, I _love_ french toast." He'd even sprinkled them with powdered sugar and deposited a hefty dollop of butter on top. "You're going to spoil me."

"You can't eat twigs and berries all your life."

"Keeps me in shape and thin."

"You're beautiful without all the granola and grass you feed yourself."

I ran my fingers through his hair then kissed his shoulder. "This coming from a man who eats healthier than I do."

"Only four days a week now."

"Wow. What a sacrifice." He grinned then slipped the single red rose out of the vase on the tray and gave it to me. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied settling back against the pillow with the bowl of fruit, feeding me a piece again as he did.

"We can't stay in bed all day."

"We can certainly try." I giggled then reached for the paper he'd tucked under the tray.

"Not yet." He said grabbing my hand and moving the paper out of reach. "Let's not go there yet."

Looking over at the folded paper, I frowned. "It's bad isn't it?"

"Not really." I wanted to see the front page, but pushed all thoughts of it out of my head.

Ranger was right. I felt good right now. Why bring the reality of yesterday down upon our romantic interlude before we really needed to. There was plenty of time to worry about the two homicides, later.

"What are your plans for the day?" He glanced over at me.

"I have some business that needs tending to."

"And?"

"What?"

"Are you going to share?"

"Why?"

"Because that's generally what married couples do."

He gazed at me over his coffee cup then placed it on the nightstand. "What are your plans for the day?" _Shit_.

"Lose your tail, follow up on some stuff I've got on the line." He smiled.

"Why do you feel the need to lose me?" I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"You've asked two questions now without answering mine."

He turned his attention to the French toast and poured syrup all over them. After cutting out a huge bite, he turned to me and grinned. "Eat."

I took a bite, chewing slowly and savoring. Ranger really is a good cook. It's unfortunate that his sexy body only knows the ingredients to master two dishes, one of them requiring an open fire pit for the right results.

Grabbing a napkin and swallowing, I frowned. "Your French toast won't pacify me. You're not getting out of this that easily, bud."

"Funny that you should mention us being a married couple..."

I stared at him. "We are, aren't we?"

"I don't know," he replied quietly as he reached for my napkin, spreading it on my lap. "Are we?" Our eyes connected and I felt my back stiffen.

"I hate when you answer one of my questions with another question." He grinned at me. "What's your point?"

"Is one night going to change your mind?"

"About what?"

He reached for his coffee cup. "The divorce you've requested." This was said simply, with loads of patience and probably a lot of planning.

Feeling his hawk eyes watching me closely, I knew that Ranger waited, anticipating the usual change in my mood.

I didn't know what to say, and I felt stupid for it. My thoughts upon waking that morning were of reconciliation. I'd honestly started thinking about – big emphasis on the _started_ – burning the papers downstairs and working on forgiving Ranger. Now as he looked at me, I wasn't so sure that would be a smart move.

Coming to the conclusion that one night generally wasn't supposed to settle something this serious, I shifted gears, but my heart didn't feel good about turning Ranger away.

Reaching for the bowl of fruit and a fork, I sighed softly. "You're good, but you're not that good."

He was holding his coffee cup in his hands, in his lap. His eyes were fixed on my face as he waited for my answer. And when it came, his eyes dropped, gazing into that coffee with an expression of torment.

"Just tell me this is a start, Rachel… please."

"I have divorce papers drawn up, Ranger."

"So? I love you. Doesn't that mean anything to you anymore?" It did, and I wanted to tell him so, but my ego kept the words inside.

"I wish a simple '_I love you_' could cure this." He sighed heavily and looked away. "Would you rather I lied?"

"No, _damnit_. I want you to be honest with me. But you've got to know this is killing me!"

"And you think all of this has been easy on me?" I stared at him a moment while he said nothing. "When we got married I never imagined us being where we are right now. Our vows never mentioned spending seven years apart while our egos fought against each other."

"I remember us telling each other for better or worse," he said matter-of-factly. "And I can't imagine things getting much worse than they are right now." I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the pillows. We could go on and on, neither of us ever really gaining any ground. Hadn't we been doing it for years?

"Look," I said turning to him. "I'm not going to pretend that last night meant nothing to me."

"Good."

"Because it did mean something," I said taking his hand mine. "It meant a lot, bud. But, let's be honest… one night is _not_ going to fix all of this." He shook his head, looked away. "We've always been good together in bed, Ranger. You're the only one who can touch me and make my body come alive the way it does."

"I'm not going to walk away quietly. I won't let you go without a fight." _Pretty sure I already knew that_.

"Tell me something, why did it take those papers to get us where we are right now?"

He shook his head. "I don't know, but they were a big enough wake up call for me." I smiled. "I don't want to lose you."

"You've been living your life like I don't exist for years. Why the change now?"

"You're assuming I have."

I knew I could push the Stephanie issue, but didn't want to go there. Not right now. Bringing his relationship with her into our bed would only taint everything we'd shared, and I wasn't a fool. I knew it was possible we were taking a step in the right direction. I just wasn't ready to admit that all was forgotten and forgiven. I wasn't made of the stuff that could.

A little while later I stood under the jets in the shower going over our conversation again.

I knew he loved me, even knew that nothing or no one held a candle to that love.

_So what was my hang up_?

Part of it was because while he claimed to love me so completely, he betrayed me without a single thought.

I'd been faithful. It didn't matter that he'd been thousands of miles away. I'd been approached and had turned down countless offers from all kinds of men. Why hadn't he done the same? When put in the same position, _why hadn't my husband stayed true to me_? Was the problem one he found in me, himself or just our relationship?

I turned when I heard the shower doors open, relaxed against him when his arms came around me.

_Oh God, I love this man_, loved him like I loved no other.

Why _couldn't_ I just forgive and forget? Why was it so easy for me to open the doors to my bedroom when I was still harboring so much resentment? I couldn't be intimate with Ranger without tripping over my emotions.

And as long as I was dealing with this emotionally, I'd never logically find the right answer…


	11. Chapter 11

_**Hope you're still enjoying the story – JE owns her characters! **_

We decided to spend our day sleuthing together. There were a few leads he wanted to follow up on, and a handful I'd brought up while we we're getting dressed. I wasn't entirely sure I knew why Ranger was investing so much time, energy and manpower into the two homicides – especially given the fact that the authorities were already heavily involved – but I was pretty sure it might've had something to do with the fact that Lafontaine had tried to kill Stephanie and myself.

As we walked out to Ranger's car, his cell phone immediately started ringing. Without missing a beat he keyed open the car, climbed inside and answered his phone in his special Ranger way.

"Yo." Glancing over at him I rolled my eyes. "Yeah," he said starting the car. "She's with me." Backing out of the driveway, he listened intently to the person on the other end. "I've got this covered. Send Erik to watch Stephanie." My heart skipped once then filled with jealousy. He was talking to Tank and setting up who would guard whom for the day.

For a brief moment I lost all inward control. My mind and heart were buzzing wildly. He was talking about the both of us like we were a job, for crying out loud.

And even if I was off the mark a bit, he still had Stephanie ranked right up there next to me on the importance scale. If Ranger hadn't decided to let me tag along with him for the day, someone would've been assigned to guarding me, just like Erik had been assigned to Plum.

Fuck if it didn't piss me off to know she was getting the same treatment I was.

But, like I said, I lost all inward control for only a _moment_. It took all I had to calm my ass down, but I did it before he hung up the phone.

Reaching into my bag I pulled out my own cell and checked in with Kathleen. She answered on the first ring and sounded badly out of breath. "Did you just get in?"

"_Just_." She said sighing heavily. I could almost picture her flopping down in the chair behind her desk, powering up her computer. "You forget we're an hour behind you."

"I didn't forget." She grunted her response and I smiled.

"How are things going up there?"

"Not a good time to ask."

"_Really_," she replied, her interest piqued. "Is Mr. Sexy there?"

"Uh-huh."

"You don't sound too happy to have him around, darlin'."

"You know me well."

"Huh." Kathleen said quietly. "I'd give anything to have that man by my side, but… he's not my husband and I don't do his laundry."

"Neither do I."

"It's a figure of speech." She said wearily. "Give him a chance, Rachel. He loves you."

"Yeah, well… there's another."

"Nuh-uh. Not the Ranger I know. He's only wired to love one woman at a time. Maybe only one woman in his entire _lifetime_." She said a bit wistfully. "He may dabble in the fairer sex here and there, but that don't mean nothin'. He's devoted to you."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"'Course you don't. He's right there." I smiled and shook my head at her. "Just because he screwed up once doesn't mean he always will, honey."

"Twice."

"Really." She paused. "Well, you _have_ been livin' apart for the last seven years."

"Lame, lame, lame." She laughed. "Pick a side and stay on it."

I hung up with her shortly afterwards and checked my voicemail. Ranger glanced over at me as I was punching in my password. "Tank says hello."

"Kathleen's on your side." He smiled.

"I always did love Kathleen."

I grunted a response and put my phone to my ear. The first message was from a girlfriend asking me to meet her for dinner Friday night. That obviously wasn't going to happen. The next was from Kathleen, she'd left it earlier on the day before and I hadn't gotten to it. There were two others from employees, one from the insurance company who funded my bond contracts and the last one was from Morelli.

"I've got some news. Call me when you get a moment or two… alone."

_Alone_? What the Hell did that mean?

I glanced over at Ranger. He was busy driving, lost in his own thoughts. I wanted to call Morelli right back, but resisted. Calling Joe in Ranger's company – and especially after the evening I'd just spent with him – might cause an uproar. I was pretty sure Morelli knew I would be spending a bit of time with Ranger, and was probably just protecting himself, especially his legs.

I couldn't imagine there being any news all that important that a cop I'd just met would want to share with me. I could be wrong though.

I watched Ranger key in a location on his GPS. "Where are we heading?"

"I thought we'd drive by Fedders Street."

"That's where Emily lived with her parents." He nodded. "You're not going to go knocking on the door, are you?"

"I'm not going to, and not today."

"Okay... I'll bite. If you're not then who, and when?" He flashed me a smile. "Shit." I grumbled. "I really don't want to approach a family who's just had their daughter shot and killed."

"You were with her when she died. That'll get you in the door." I groaned then flipped open my cell phone when it started ringing again.

"Just got a call from Sean," Kathleen said stiffly, her game voice on. "Buck Wellsley's turned to smoke."

"Really."

"What do you want me to do?" Buck Wellsley was a grand pain in my ass. It felt like I bonded the guy out every other week. He'd started by getting caught hoofing moonshine over the state line eons ago then moved up to growing his own marijuana and peddling it to the wrong crowd. Recently he'd gotten himself involved with a bunch of drug dealers that colored _way_ outside the lines. "When was the last time anyone saw him?"

"Two days ago," Kathleen replied. "He was shopping at a _Super Wal-Mart_ for food."

"When was his court date scheduled for?"

"Yesterday at four." I shook my head. This wasn't good. If Buck had gone up missing, that meant someone was stashing him somewhere or had put him out of his misery.

"You got anyone out working the street?"

"I sent Sean and T2 out this morning." Sean had been in RangeMan employ since Ranger and I had started the company ten years earlier. Ranger, Tank, Sean and I had all been in army together. When my relationship with Ranger had fallen apart, Tank agreed to stay with Ranger, Sean with me. Lines had been drawn, business accounts separated, but that didn't mean we weren't still family. Ranger just handled the business in Jersey with Tank. I took care of everything in Dallas.

"Keep the two of them out there. If anyone can scare up some news it'll be T2."

Kathleen chuckled. "He still gives me the willies sometimes."

"He's a pussy-cat." I said with a smile. "I'll check back in around lunchtime. If they haven't turned anything up by then," I paused and glanced Ranger's way. "I'll fly home as soon as possible."

"Got it, boss." And Kathleen disconnected.

Ranger was quiet on the other side of the car. I knew he'd been listening. He never missed a thing. Having him say nothing right away bothered me though. Business was business. My husband understood that.

Given the state of our personal lives right at the moment though, I was pretty sure he was going to have plenty to say. His silence was unnerving.

Glancing at the GPS I bridged the gap. "Looks like we're almost there."

"You're leaving." And there it was.

"Only if they can't get some solid leads on an FTA."

"Who is it?"

"Buck." Ranger shook his head. "He's either gotten himself killed or gone under this time."

"How high is the bond?"

"High enough that I'm not going to stick around here in Jersey spinning my wheels with you." Ranger flicked a glance my way then back towards the road.

"What's he gotten himself involved in?"

"Drugs. Cocaine, specifically." Ranger was quiet. "He's not alone this time though. He's mixed up with an organization that's floating shit into the states through the Gulf."

"_Buck_?" Ranger asked dumbfounded, and I nodded. "Buck Wellsley?" He repeated, just to be sure.

"That'd be him."

"I thought he was peddling moonshine?"

"Gave it up for Lent, or so he says." Ranger shook his head. If you knew him well, you'd see he was disgusted.

"Who's T2?" I grinned proudly.

"My equivalent of a Tank, only bigger and meaner."

"There's no one bigger or meaner than Tank." He countered.

"Wanna make a bet?" Ranger's lips lifted slightly. "Besides," I started, changing gears. "If I have to go back, that's one less person you have to watch after."

"Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"Aren't you?"

"Erik's watching Stephanie to make sure she doesn't blow herself up."

"And you're watching after me."

"No. I'm spending the day with my wife while we work on a case together." I stared at him quietly a moment. "I didn't keep you by my side to keep tabs on you, Rachel. I wanted to be with you today."

"I don't know whether to believe you and be flattered, or smack you for trying to play on my heartstrings."

"I'd go with door number one." He said stopping the car and pointing. "That's Stoddard's parent's house." It wasn't much to look at. A single-family dwelling in the middle of a neighborhood surrounded by others just like it. Emily's parents didn't look to have a lot of money, but from all appearances, they did the best they could with what they had.

There were some planters on the stoop filled with flowers, the windows were clean – in Jersey, they'd better be – and the shutters and trim looked freshly painted. There was a play yard in the front of the house that had a blanket and baby toys inside. I could picture Emily sitting out there on the lawn, playing with her daughter in the sun. It made my heart ache to think about that baby without her mother.

Shaking my head, I looked up and down the street. There were cars everywhere and people were loitering in the driveway and backyard. "Big gathering."

"Large family." He said surveying the scene. "We need to get some names. Morelli might have some."

"If it wasn't so soon I'd go up and ask myself. Doesn't feel right though." Ranger shook his head and started the car.

"Let's go and check out Mongeon's."

As we drove through the burg, I couldn't help but think about Emily Stoddard's family. She was so young, her baby just a little thing. How could a father murder his daughter's mother? Emily's family had to be shattered. They'd lost not only their daughter, but their granddaughter as well.

I felt Ranger's hand on mine and turned his way. "Don't torture yourself. There's nothing you could've done."

"I'm not. I just can't get her out of my head. The way she'd looked before he'd killed her."

"It amazes me still, the heart you carry within."

I smiled at him. "Who are you trying to kid? You're an old softy, too."

"There's nothing soft about me."

"I don't know. You seemed pretty in tune with your softer side last night." He looked over at me and smiled. It wasn't the sexy Ranger smile or the cocky grin he flashed periodically, but the smile of a man in love.

"What can I say… you bring out the best in me." I watched him lift my hand to his lips and kiss my fingers.

"What would your associates say if they saw you this way?"

"They wouldn't. They'd know I'd kill them if they said a word." I started to laugh then stopped when my cell phone rang again. "Geez."

"I'm a popular girl." I checked the Caller ID. "It's Kathleen."

"Put her on speaker phone." I did. "Gorgeous, you need to stop calling me like this." He said with a grin.

"Darlin', if I had _your_ number I wouldn't call Rachel at all." She replied, her southern accent dripping through the line.

"Traitor." I said with a smile and she chuckled. "What's up?"

"T2 just discovered the Buckmeister's been running guns along with drugs." I thought about this a moment. This didn't sound like Buck at all. "On the street they're saying Buck boated out this weekend, a crap load of Heroin in tow. Sunday morning he came back with a _beaucoup_ amount of money, some more illegals and a couple of crates of unregistereds."

"Are we talking about the same Buck Wellsley?" I asked her incredulously and she laughed.

"I told you when you agreed to bond him that he'd been seen with some scary figures lately."

"I didn't figure him for this though."

"Yeah, neither did I."

"Where's T2?"

"Just went to pick up some supplies. They're heading out into the field tonight. Ben Pike seems to think Bucky might be hiding out in some hunt club near Lumberton."

"That's a jaunt."

Ranger leaned in. "That's, what… twenty miles out from Beaumont?"

"Just about," Kathleen replied. "Lots of hunt clubs down in that area. People are shootin' up wild hogs and deer right now."

"The fun never ends." Ranger mumbled and I grinned.

"Where's Sean?"

"Right here. Hang on."

The phone rustled a bit then Sean came on. "What's happening, beautiful?"

"You got the 411 on Bucky?"

"Beats the piss out of me what he's up to. My internal bullshit monitor hasn't been going off, I can tell you that. I think the Buckmeister's into some heavy stuff he can't get out of."

"Do you think he's skimming?"

"That's the word." I sighed heavily. "You've got less than two weeks to bring him in and if he's holed himself up in one of those hunt clubs…"

"Shit." I whispered.

"Again I ask, how much is the bond?" Ranger questioned.

"Is that the original RangeMan?" Sean called out laughing. "_Sweet Jesus_, Ranger. I thought you were dead!"

"From your mouth to my wife's ears," Sean chuckled. "Isn't Buck Wellsley the guy who stole your glock once and shot up a _Piggly Wiggly_?"

"That'd be the one. I knew I should've killed him then."

"Hard to believe we're talking about the same guy."

"Greed, my man...it can turn even the dumbest guy into a bigger idiot." Sean replied. "So, Rach… how much you putting into this?"

I groaned. I totally trusted Sean and T2 to take care of the situation with Bucky, but I was worried about the money I'd hocked up. All that aside, I was knee-deep in the Stoddard murder. I wanted to help bring her killer to justice. Unfortunately the Stoddard case wasn't going to help my bottom line. Bucky was a priority.

"I'm giving you thirty-six hours to give me something concrete. You don't come up with something worthy of me staying away, I'm heading back to Dallas."

"Sounds like a plan." Sean replied. "I don't want to sound like a pessimist or anything, but you might want to pack your bags, sweets. That hunt club in Lumberton is huge. We might even have to call in the dogs."

"Do whatever you have to. I really don't think Bucky's going to like living out in the wilderness for too long. He'll miss his TV." Sean laughed.

"I'll be in touch before the deadline." And he hung up.

Ranger turned to me once my phone was back in my pocket. "If you fly back I'm going with you."

"No."

"You could use the help. I'll bring Tank along."

"This isn't your fight."

"Doesn't mean I don't want to help."

"No."

"Rachel," he said impatiently.

"No, bud. If I'm needed back home I'll go. Alone." He started to say something but I held a hand up to him. "You have your hands full here with Lafontaine."

"Lafontaine isn't my problem."

"No, but Emily Stoddard was killed right in front of me and that makes her _my_ problem. If I can't be here to help Morelli then I want you to do it." He glanced my way briefly before shaking his head. "Bud, I want that baby brought back to her family. I need you to follow through with this for me." He cursed under his breath. "Please."

"I don't feel good about this."

"Why? If I hadn't come back you wouldn't have a clue what was going on in Dallas." The look he shot me told me differently, but I wasn't buying it. "Don't be so sure, handsome. Your hired help didn't even know I was gone."

"Just had to rub that in, didn't you?" I leaned closer to him and kissed Ranger's cheek.

"Do this for me?"

"No."

I moved away and stared at him, dumbfounded. "Did you just say no? After I'd kissed your cheek and everything?"

"I won't do this for you. I'll assign some guys to help Morelli, but I'm not staying." I opened my mouth to protest but he held up a hand. "No, Rachel, and for two reasons –"

"Oh, I can't _wait_ to hear what they are." His expression was calm, his eyes steady as he looked at me.

"Reason number one… you could use all the help you can get, and since Tank and I have worked with both you and Sean before, it only makes sense to put the team back together to find Buck." I looked away. "You know I'm right."

"Sean, T2 and I have done fine without you and Tank for years." I challenged, but he wasn't about to waiver. "What's the other reason?"

"I'm not ready to let you go." I met his brown eyes straight on and felt my heart trip. "You've given Sean thirty-six hours to find Buck. That means I only have thirty-six hours to save our marriage. That's not enough time."

"You're assuming you can."

"I'm not letting you go. Period." He replied.

I didn't know what to say, so I left it alone…


	12. Chapter 12

_**Two chapters in one day… enjoy! Oh, and I own none of the JE characters… ~ Maia**_

The next stop on Ranger's tour that day involved checking on Stephanie. With good reason I wasn't happy about tagging along. So while he went into bond office she worked for, I stayed in the _Cayenne_.

Earlier we'd driven by Mongeon's house, but there'd been no sign of Mongeon, Lafontaine or the car. After knocking on the door and doing an inspection through the windows, we'd summed up that neither Lafontaine or Mongeon were there. Knowing that hadn't given either of us any warm and fuzzy feelings, so we'd left the neighborhood, but not before asking around a bit. Unfortunately no one had seen the duo in a couple of days.

Now as I sat in Ranger's truck contemplating the two cases in front of me, I closed my eyes and frowned.

If I was a guy who'd just killed two women, had two children in tow, both under the age of two, where would I go? Lafontaine didn't strike me as the fatherly type. He certainly hadn't permeated strong parental vibes when'd he'd fired a gun at me while holding his infant daughter, so if he was hiding with the kids, he had to have someone other than Mongeon with him, someone female.

Picking up my phone I dialed Morelli's number.

"Yeah," he said in a clipped tone.

"Are you busy?"

"Sort of, but I've got a few minutes for you." He replied.

"Your message said you had some information for me."

"Newly deceased's name is Christina Lombardi. She and Stoddard were best friends."

"You're kidding me."

"Serious as a heart attack, sweetheart. Turns out Lafontaine had been sleeping with both women."

"He didn't strike me as the type to string two along, especially not best friends."

"Yeah, well I guess the three of them enjoyed each others company, and often, if you know what I mean."

I thought about that a moment and shrugged. "Society today."

"I know."

"You know, or you _know_?" He chuckled.

"We're straying a bit off the path, aren't we?"

"Rumor has it you're a bad boy."

I thought I heard him smile into the phone. "Have you been asking around about me?"

"Nope. People just like to talk about a good looking guy."

"You're so full of it." I grinned. "So, I've got some feelers out to see if we can get anything else on the trio. I still haven't figured out how Mongeon plays into all of this."

"Uh-huh," I said looking towards the office. Ranger was walking out the door, Stephanie on his heels. She didn't look happy. "I was thinking a minute or two ago. Eddie doesn't seem like the type to be able to take care of two kids under the age of two by himself."

"Hey, I couldn't take care of one, let alone two." Joe replied.

I laughed, still watching Ranger. "I figure he's got to have help from someone, and that someone is probably female."

"I'll poke around and see what I can find."

"Maybe a sister or mother?"

"Mama Lafontaine is dead, but I think the grandmother is still kicking around." I nodded and watched as Stephanie grabbed Ranger's arms, turning him back towards her when he tried to walk away. I cracked the passenger window a bit, hoping to hear whatever it was she was saying, but couldn't hear much over Morelli. "I think he's got a sister, or maybe a step-sister, but I'm not sure."

"Okay." I replied, distracted. I could faintly hear what Stephanie was saying, but only bits and pieces. "I'll check back in with you later on." I said to Joe, and hung up, rolling the window down a bit more as I did.

"You should have told me." I heard Stephanie say to him. Ranger said nothing. "I mean, you mentioned your daughter and a marriage, but you never said anything about _still_ being married!"

"What's your point?" Ranger replied.

"My point is you could've at least told me you were still married. You lead me to believe you were divorced."

"What I told you was all you needed to know at the time."

"Which is pretty much nothing." He said nothing. She didn't know Ranger at all.

Staring out the window at the two of them I felt something inside of me calm a bit.

He'd told her something about our marriage he just hadn't told her everything. That was good, right? Meant he was still keeping his private life private, and that this woman wasn't important enough to know it all. Knowing this wasn't good for her, but in my head I was dancing a little jig.

Not wanting to eavesdrop anymore, I rolled the window up and glanced over at the clock on the dash. When I looked back at the two of them Ranger shifted his eyes my way, the frown on his face deepening.

I couldn't hear them anymore, but from what I read on his lips I knew he'd told her he had to go, walking away. She shouted something to him about their conversation not being over, but Ranger didn't respond.

While Ranger rounded the vehicle, Stephanie glanced my way, realizing for the first time that I was there. Her expression changed to one of outrage and humiliation just before she turned on her heel and stomped back into the building. For a moment I felt sorry for her.

After Ranger had gotten in and started the car, I turned towards him, but he stayed quiet. On the outside he looked as cool as a cucumber. Inside he was probably stewing, maybe even raging a bit.

A part of me hated the fact that he had this _thing_ going on with Stephanie Plum that he couldn't – or wouldn't – talk to me about. It was very obvious by watching the two of them, that whatever feelings had passed, were mutual. Just to varying degrees.

Ranger was tied to one woman and one woman only. I had to admit, Kathleen had been right when she'd said that Ranger could only wholeheartedly love one woman at a time. There were other stages of love he might share with someone, but none would touch what we shared.

I still found no comfort in that.

Glancing over at him, I sighed softly. "Are you going to talk to me?" He was quiet. "Did you lie to her?"

"No."

"How are you going to deal with the situation?"

"There is no situation."

"Looked to me like there was."

Ranger's eyes skipped my way briefly then fixed on the road again. Silence filled the vehicles cab for a few moments while he inwardly fought with his demons.

Finally, he let me in. "Stephanie and I were intimate a while back. It started out as a game between the two of us, but then it turned into something else." I turned away, looking out the passenger side window as I did. If he was going to unload his conscience, I didn't want him looking into my eyes as he did it. "I've been honest with Stephanie about everything the two of us have shared. I even told her there were no strings, no attachments of any kind, especially emotional. I was clear with her when I told her I expected nothing from her, and that she should do the same."

"Just two people taking care of some needs." I mumbled.

"Yes." He said quietly.

"She's got Morelli for that though."

"They were in an off stage of their on again-off again relationship." Shaking my head I closed my eyes. Did Morelli know any of this? "It only happened once."

"Why?"

"Because she's in love with Morelli."

"She's in love with you as well." Ranger said nothing. "Who's putting the brakes on, bud? You or her?"

"Both." He said so honestly that my heart hurt. He'd just confirmed my fears. He loved Stephanie Plum, but because of our marriage he couldn't go any further with her. God only knew why _she_ was putting on the brakes.

"I guess time will tell what's going to happen with that relationship." I said absently as I looked out the window.

Ranger quickly pulled the truck to the side of the road and turned me towards him. "That relationship is going _no where_. I never wanted it to go anywhere. The only relationship I'm concerned about is the one between us."

I felt tired suddenly, too tired to argue with him. "Sure. Fine. Whatever you say." His eyes bore into mine for a moment, pleading with me to understand what he was telling me, but I just didn't care. I'd had enough of the Ranger and Stephanie drama. All I got after watching it was more heartache.

Quietly Ranger moved back into his seat and put the vehicle in drive. Maybe he was tired too. Tired of fighting a handful of fights he couldn't win.

And Ranger had never been in a fight he couldn't win…


	13. Chapter 13

Christina Lombardi lived in a small apartment outside of the burg. It wasn't a pretty neighborhood and it certainly wasn't one of the better parts of Jersey to be raising a child.

As we pulled up to the run down apartment building, I frowned. It was a grungy, brick two-story, equipped with a drooping porch on each floor. Hung up in front of two of the units were laundry lines. Dingy wet clothes hanging limply, trying to dry in the morning sun.

Ranger and I got out of the vehicle and looked up at the building. This was poverty at its best. The building didn't have a stitch of grass or a parking lot for its tenants. People owning vehicles were forced to park on the street, along with the tenants of the five other buildings matching Lombardi's.

"She lived in the right hand apartment on the second floor." Ranger said crossing the hard packed dirt and climbing the first floor stoop. There was a stairway leading up to the second floor apartments. No railings or safeguards to hold onto should a child fall down the stairs.

"I can't believe a mother would raise her child here." I said sadly.

"People do what they can with what they have."

"True, but this is horrible, Ranger."

"Wait until you see the inside." Shaking my head I followed him up the stairs to Lombardi's apartment. There was a beaten up wooden screen door falling off of its hinges, a single window to the right of it. "Doesn't look like anyone's here." Ranger said after knocking.

I walked over to the window. "Shade's drawn. Windows too dingy to see inside anyway." We listened carefully through the closed window but there was no noise. "You want to B&E right now or come back later?"

"Later." He said looking over his shoulder and around at the neighboring buildings. "Too many eyes right now."

The apartment building directly across the street from Lombardi's wasn't as quiet. There were children playing on the second floor porch, an older woman sitting out in a plastic lawn chair smoking a cigarette. "Come on."

I followed Ranger down the steps and we crossed the street. The kids were peering down at us over the edge of the porch, the woman didn't moved but I could smell her smoke drifting down on the wind, feel her eyes.

I waved to the children as we climbed the steps to talk to the woman. They'd popped their little heads over the floorboards, looking down at us curiously. With a giggle, both heads disappeared, their feet pitter-pattering as they rushed off.

"Gram! There's a scary man here!" One of the children hollered, but she didn't respond.

The woman looked to be about fifty or sixty, time and circumstances hadn't treated her well. The eye she shot us told me she was wary, but that she wasn't one to put up with bullshit. She looked to be about five-foot-two, weighing in at around two hundred pounds. Her hair was gray and thinning badly in the front. She had jowls that hung down to her stained t-shirt and pink bunny slippers on her stocking feet. The children were standing near her, one behind her chair, the other trying to hide behind her leg near the wall.

Taking the lead I held out a hand to the woman and smiled. "Hi. I'm Rachel Manoso." The woman looked at my hand then at Ranger cautiously.

"Beverly Stanley." Shaking my hand lightly she nodded Ranger's way. "I know who you are." He said nothing, just stood behind me like a stone statue. "You lookin' for Chrissy you ain't gonna find her."

"Yeah. We know." I said quietly and she looked down.

"Good girl, that Chrissy. Can't say the same about that boy she paired up with. He'd better not hurt that baby."

"Eddie come around here often?"

She shrugged her large shoulders and stared across the street. "Not much. But that was probably for the best." She said frowning. "He didn't ever help her with no money. She'd got help from the state because of the baby."

"How long did she live across from you?"

"Since he got her knocked up." Shaking her head she coughed once, the sound like nothing I'd ever heard before. Smoking had taken its toll on Beverly's face. She had lines all around her mouth, her skin slightly grayed. If she hadn't been sitting there talking to me I might have thought she was dead. "Can't believe he shot her and took that baby."

"He also killed her best friend."

"Emily." I nodded. "Those two girls grew up together. Emily was always over here with her little one. The only time you ever saw Eddie was when Emily was here. She was his flavor of the week."

One of the children, the little boy, poked his head up from behind his grandmother's leg and pointed at Ranger's gun. "That thing loaded?" He asked.

"Yup." Ranger replied.

"You ever kill anybody with it?"

Ranger winked at the boy then turned to Beverly. "Timothy Mongeon ever stop by with Eddie?"

"Yeah. He's worse'n Eddie, if you ask me. Always looking higher than a kite and drinking a beer. I know he's dealing drugs to a couple of the apartments up street, but I try not to pay attention."

"Mongeon ever have a girl with him?"

Beverly shrugged again, reaching into her pocket for her pack of cigarettes as she did. "His little sister came around once or twice. She's only about twelve or thirteen. Came to see the little girls. Loves babies."

"Have you seen any of them since Chrissy was killed?" I asked.

"Nope. That place has been shut up tight since the cops came by yesterday afternoon."

"If you see any activity over there, will you give us a call?" Beverly lifted a shoulder and let it drop. Ranger gave her his card, we thanked her and left.

Down in the car I glanced back up at Chrissy's apartment then over at Beverly's. "That woman knows more than she's letting on."

"Mongeon's got her scared, and I'm sure the buyers up the street aren't helping."

"Maybe we should knock on some doors up there."

"I'll send someone down to stake out activity for a couple of days. If Mongeon's their only dealer, he'll be by."

"My bet's on the sister helping out with the kids."

"Wouldn't hurt to find out where she lives, if she's been to school." I nodded my head.

We drove across town to RangeMan Enterprises. Ranger had set up his home office in a seven story building on a quiet street on the outskirts of the burg. There were other buildings on the street, but none looked too occupied. RangeMan probably owned a few.

There was a parking garage underneath Ranger's building. He hit a remote that opened the gate, allowing us entry. There were four black SUV's parked to the right, a black _Porsche Carrera,_ a black _Mercedes_ and the black monster truck. Black was definitely Ranger's signature color. If he wasn't wearing it, he was driving it.

After he parked the car, I hopped out and met Ranger by the tailgate of the truck. "Any of them legal?"

"In my world there are varying degrees of legal."

"At least mine are bought and paid for."

"Why waste money on things? I'd rather tuck it away in the bank and watch it grow." He smiled and took my hand. "I bet Tank is busting at the seams to see you. Let's not keep him waiting."

Walking up a short flight of stairs, Ranger unlocked a heavy steel door via a keypad. Once inside the closed behind us quietly with a _whoosh_ and a click. There was a small, unoccupied desk to the left that homed a single phone and monitor. In the corner stood a lush _Raphis Palm_.

The atmosphere inside the building was serene and businesslike. The floors were covered in dark gray carpeting, the walls a muted version of the carpet. As we walked down the hall towards the back, I peeked into a couple of the rooms. Each room had a computer set up with a monitor, but none were occupied. All systems were busily focused on activities going on somewhere in the world.

At the end of the hall the room opened up into the epicenter of RangeMan. There were windows facing out into the street, but all were one-way glass and probably bullet-proof.

Sitting behind a horseshoe desk of computers and monitors was Tank. The man was six-foot-five and built just like his name. Tank-like. He had a bald dome, one he'd shaved back in the military and kept bare for effect. He was lounging in a very comfortable looking leather chair, his huge arms crossed over his chest as he grinned at me like a Cheshire cat. "You lost?" He said cocking his head to the side.

"Only momentarily."

"Came back to join the in-crowd, I see." He teased, tossing a wink in Ranger's direction.

"If you're part of the in-crowd, I'm definitely not joining up." Chuckling lightly Tank got to his feet and wandered over to me. "_Sonofabitch_. What are you feeding this guy?" I said pinching a bicep.

Ranger had been flipping through some paperwork on a clipboard and glanced over at us mildly amused. "Definitely not twigs and berries."

"You still eating that shit?" Tank asked me.

"Hey, how else would you expect me to keep this girlish figure?"

"Sex." Laughing I wrapped my arms around Tank and held on tight. "It's good to see you, doll."

"You too." I replied, kissing him lightly on the cheek as he moved away.

"You should stop by more often."

"Eh." I said with a shrug. "I've got my own BS at home to deal with."

"Brightens the room just having you here."

"Flirt."

"Only with you." He said with a grin then glanced Ranger's way. "You tick off number two this morning?" Ranger glanced up at Tank then over at me.

"Possibly."

"Erik says she's been pissy all morning." Ranger didn't respond, just walked over to the monitors Tank had been sitting in front of and keyed in a web address.

"We need some information on Timothy Mongeon's sister." I told Tank, ignoring the huge elephant in the room. I didn't want to be a part of the conversation about Stephanie. _See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil_. That was my philosophy as far as Stephanie Plum was concerned. Maybe if I ignored her she'd go away. Wishful thinking? Probably.

"Shannon." Tank replied moving to stand behind Ranger. "Lives with Mongeon's parents on Alder."

"Any other siblings?"

"Nope. Just the two of them." Ranger nodded and turned back to face us. "Should be in school right now."

"Should be." Ranger replied. "Why don't you call and see if she actually is."

"Can do." Tank said slipping into the chair Ranger vacated.

"We're going to go upstairs for a few minutes. You got a bag packed in your truck?"

Tank glanced back at us, phone in hand. "Always. We going on a trip?"

"Possibly." Ranger said taking my arm. "Check on available flights heading into Dallas tonight."

Tank's interest increased. "We're going down south?" He said grinning at me.

"Only if I can't sneak off without the two of you."

Tank laughed. "Good luck with that." He replied turning back to his phone. "Sean going to be around?"

"Sean's always around."

"Awesome."

We left Tank to check up on Shannon Mongeon and headed up to Ranger's apartment. It was on the seventh floor and only reachable via a remote he carried on his key chain. Halfway up there I turned to Ranger and smiled. "Who else has access to your apartment?"

"Just me."

"So secretive."

"I have no secrets from you." Narrowing my eyes at him I moved in closer to Ranger.

"You're a walking mystery, friend."

He lifted a hand, tucked a lock of my blonde hair behind my ear and gazed into my eyes. My heart flip-flopped in my chest, the contact intimate and sexual even in its simplicity. "You're one to talk."

"I'm an open book."

"You think you are, but you hide well behind your tough exterior."

Cocking my head to the side, I grinned. "You think I'm tough?"

"Don't let it go to your head." He said pulling me close. "It's a side I respect in you, but I much prefer you when you're all soft and pliant."

"I'm only that way when I'm in bed."

"All the more reason to like you that way." He said bending his head and capturing my lips with his.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened to the seventh floor. There was only one door on that floor and Ranger opened it with yet another key on his key chain. "Anything ever happens to you, how will anyone get up here?" I asked as we walked into his apartment.

"_If _anything ever happens to me," he said pausing and smiling. "I've left you everything you're going to need in a safe deposit box."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "I have to wait for you to die to gain access to your apartment?"

He turned to me and stared at me quietly. "You want access now? You got it." There was a catch, there had to be. "But once I give it to you," he continued, his eyes darkening and drilling into mine. "There's no turning back."

"Always your way or –"

"I wish." He said turning and going deeper into the apartment. "Feel free to look around. Help yourself to whatever's in the kitchen. I'm going to gather some things together for later."

"Not necessary!" I called out to him, still hating the fact that he wouldn't listen to me about the situation in Dallas. "I don't need you with me." I said as I wandered down the hall towards where he'd disappeared. Leaning in the doorway, I stared into his bedroom.

Ranger had just tossed a bag on his bed and was zipping it open. Glancing my way he turned for the closet. "I need _you_ with _me_." He said opening the doors and grabbing a handful of black t-shirts.

"Bud…"

He looked up at me. "This isn't up for discussion, Rachel." I rolled my eyes and ran my fingers through my hair. "And if you're thinking about taking off on me when my back's turned, forget it."

"Wouldn't do me any good. You'd only follow me down there anyway." He tossed me a sexy smile then turned back towards the closet.

Pissed off at him and needing some space, I left Ranger to his packing and went in search of the kitchen. Finding it I headed for the refrigerator and rummaged inside for a bottle of water and an apple.

A little over forty-eight hours earlier Ranger hadn't even known I was in Jersey. Now he was all up in my face and messing with my life like he had a right. And why was that? Hadn't I come back to divorce the jerk? What'd happened to handing him his walking papers?

I chomped down on my apple and chewed it thoughtfully. I was in this situation because I'd been weak. I'd let Ranger back into my bed, and by doing so back into my life. Now what I needed to do was figure out whether I really wanted him there or still wanted to show him the door.

_Decisions, decisions_…

Opening my bottle of water I headed into the living room area and looked around at the surroundings. Ranger's tastes were simple and rich. He had a huge leather couch that looked expensive and comfortable. The woods in the room were dark and deep in color. He had a huge entertainment console on the back wall that housed a big plasma TV and a bunch of gadgets I was sure he never used.

His furnishings were manly and expensive, yet the room lacked a personal touch. There were no knick-knacks, no pictures or paintings on the walls. There wasn't a speck of dust on any of the furnishings, no throw rugs or blankets tossed haphazardly on the couch or chair. The coffee table was magazine and book free, and the two plants I saw in the corner were low-maintenance and non-grandeur.

Shaking my head my heart filled with something bordering on guilt when I realized that Ranger didn't really live here. He existed in this space. My husband had surrounded himself with the best that money could buy, but I'd bet dimes to dollars all Ranger used this place for was to clean up, occasionally eat and sleep at night. Why I felt guilty about that was beyond me. My husband had made his bed, so be it if he slept in it.

I was standing by the window finishing my apple when Ranger found me. He stood there watching me for a few moments before saying anything. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Do you have another place?" I asked quietly as I continued to look out the window.

He moved to sit on the arm of the couch. "In Miami."

"For when you see Julie," he nodded. "Does she have a room in that apartment?"

"She's never been there." I turned to Ranger and frowned. "It's nothing like this." He said spreading his hands.

"And what is this, bud? Nothing but a dwelling at the top of a building."

"So?"

"Do you consider this home?"

He stared at me a moment then looked down at his hands. "I have no real home, Rachel. Doesn't make sense to put down roots given what I do."

"You had roots once."

"Before you I did." He said nodding his head and looking around his apartment. "And with you I started to make new ones. Since then?" He shrugged indifferently. "Why bother."

"There's nothing of you in this apartment." I told him looking around.

"There doesn't need to be."

"You weren't always this way."

"A lot of things changed when you walked away."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Don't blame this on me."

"I'm not laying blame anywhere." He replied. "Just stating a fact."

"Don't you miss having a life? Having things around you that make you feel like you're alive and have something to live for?" He put his hands on his knees and pushed himself up. Walking over to me he looked directly in my eyes and said nothing. "I didn't do this to you, bud. You did."

"Come back to me and fix it." I closed my eyes. "You're the key, Rachel. I've always known it you just need to believe it."

Opening my eyes I stared into his brown pools and felt myself melt a little. "If it were only that easy."

"It can be."

Shaking my head I moved past him. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

I went into the kitchen and threw the apple and water bottle away. After washing my hands I wandered out and found Ranger standing in the hallway, waiting for me. "I'm ready whenever you are." I told him. He nodded his head once and we left…


	14. Chapter 14

_**JE owns her own characters!**_

Ranger dropped me off at the townhouse a couple of hours later. He claimed he had some loose ends he needed to tie up, and since I didn't especially care what those loose ends were, I cheerfully let him go. Things were getting entirely too intense between us. And with my heart in flux over the current state of our relationship, being with Ranger was proving not so helpful in settling it.

Once inside the townhouse I tossed my jacket and purse on a chair and headed to my laptop. After keying in my password and going to the RangeMan Dallas website, I flipped to the administrators page to check my email and was immediately flooded with alerts. "Fuck." They were all about Buck Wellsley.

Picking up the phone I dialed the lone number I had for Bucky and got his voicemail. After listening to his brief message, I left Buck a message of my own. "You know who this is. If you don't contact me within the next twenty-four hours the boy's and I are coming after you. You know you don't want that to happen. Let me help." And I disconnected.

If Buck had been really missing or dead, his voicemail would've been full, spitting out a generic message not allowing me to leave a voicemail. That had to be promising. Could mean Buck wasn't a cell phone guru and hadn't given his number to many. Or it could mean Bucky was screening his calls.

I was banking on door number two.

After scanning through my emails briefly I picked up the phone again and tried Buck's mother in North Carolina. She hadn't heard from Buck, and said if she did, she wouldn't hesitate in calling me. Another phone call to his best friend proved unhelpful, so I hung up and put the phone aside.

I hated this, all of it. I needed to be back in Dallas dealing with the situation. Trying to run Buck down from Jersey wasn't going to get my money back. I'm a hands-on type of girl, and if I can't get my hands on something – or someone – I slowly drive myself insane. It's not pretty.

Not wanting to reach that point I checked my watch, got up from the desk and paced. I had a dilemma. I could stick around and wait out the thirty-six hours like I'd promised, or I could jump a flight back home and deal with the situation immediately. My head screamed at me to book a flight home, my heart held me back.

Shaking my head I walked over to the window and looked down into the street. Sure enough, there was a black SUV parked two doors down. "Still don't trust me." I whispered. "Well, why disappoint you?"

Walking over to the desk I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Ranger's number. He answered on the first ring. "You alright?"

"No."

"What's wrong?"

"I'm not waiting the thirty-six hours." Silence. "I can't, bud. We've been busy with the homicides all day long, but now that I've had a chance to check in at home and sit a minute I'm going nuts over Buck."

"How much is the bond, Rachel?" I closed my eyes.

"Two hundred thousand." Silence. "I'm going back to Dallas. I've got my purse, keys and coat in hand. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Wait a few hours."

"No. That would be the equivalent of torture for me and you know I'm not a patient woman." Silence again. "Please understand."

"You won't come back."

"You're just going to have to trust me."

"I don't." That was his problem, not mine, so I hung up and headed out.

When I got outside the goon down in the SUV was just picking up his cell phone. His eyes darted my way briefly before he said something and hung up. Not caring one bit what Ranger thought of my leaving, I got in the _Highlander_ and headed towards the airport.

Well, that wasn't true. I did care what Ranger thought. I just didn't _want_ to.

A quick call to Kathleen had her searching for an available flight out of Newark. I could've flown out of Trenton Mercer, but Newark was a bigger airport. My chances of getting out that day were better in Newark.

Kathleen got me on a flight at a little after six. It was three-thirty now so that gave me plenty of time to get there. Newark was only an hour away.

I stopped for coffee and a bagel, filled up the gas tank and headed out of Trenton. Quick checks in my rearview mirror proved that Ranger was staying true to his word. While I was in Jersey, I would be followed. He could be depended upon for some things, others? Eh.

Once I reached the airport and parked the _Highlander_ in long-term parking, I turned towards the guy in the SUV and approached the vehicle. He rolled down his window and stared at me. "This where your journey ends?" He nodded his head once. "That's too bad. Make sure to tell your boss I said goodbye." More silence. I guess being conversational wasn't a prerequisite when you worked for Ranger. "Nice talking to you." I said shaking my head and walked away.

I checked in with the airline then headed on to security. I'd left any toys that might make me look like a terrorist in the _Highlander_, so I breezed through without incident. After purchasing a second cup of coffee I checked my time and headed for the gate. I still had at least an hour before boarding, so I wasn't in any rush.

Choosing a chair in the corner, I absently flipped through a magazine someone had left behind then spotted the newspaper. A part of me really wanted to see the front page, needed to know what had been reported about Stoddard and Lombardi murders, but left it alone. They weren't my problem right now. Bucky was. I couldn't worry about bringing Lafontaine to justice when I had Bucky's two hundred thousand dollar bond hanging over my head.

I tried to focus on the magazine in my lap, but couldn't. My eyes kept scanning the gate, looking for Ranger. A part of me believed he was going to show up last minute and muscle his way in, like he usually did.

Ten minutes before the gate opened I still hadn't seen hide nor hair of Ranger and felt slightly discouraged about him not being there.

_Stop kidding yourself, Rachel. It's been seven years_.

That didn't mean I didn't hold hope. I was still a woman in love, a woman who wanted to believe her knight in shining armor would always be there for her and come to her rescue. Unfortunately, my knight wouldn't show up until it was absolutely necessary. We were connected, but we'd learned to live without each other a long time ago.

As they called my flight I got to my feet, searching the gate one more time. My heart ached when still no Ranger appeared. Maybe I expected too much of him. Maybe he really wasn't capable of being the husband I wanted and needed. Maybe our love was just a dream, something that lived somewhere within us, but when thrust into reality, fizzled away.

Shaking my head I threw away my coffee cup and handed the flight attendant my ticket. After boarding and finding my seat I stared out the window quietly and attempted to put Jersey behind me.

Ranger had been right. I wasn't going to come back…


	15. Chapter 15

_**JE owns her characters! Enjoy… ~ Maia**_

Five exhausting hours later I landed at Dallas Fort Worth.

We'd only had to endure one stop during the flight, but I was wiped out just the same. Given the fact that I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, I wasn't very surprised how tired I felt. What sucked was that I wasn't going to get any relief anytime soon, and I hated running on empty.

When I rounded the corner near security I was yawning, hugely. Kathleen waved and smiled at me, a cup of coffee in hand. "Oh, you're my savior." I said upon reaching her and taking the cup.

"I figured you were going to need some liquid nourishment," I nodded as I sipped and closed my eyes. It'd been quicker to just pump it into my veins. "Did you at least eat?"

"I had a bagel before I flew out."

"Well, _la-de-da_." She said shaking her head. "That's certainly going to stick with you through the night." I smiled at Kathleen and we started walking.

Kathleen was about five-foot-seven, a couple inches shorter than me, and all southern-belle. Her red hair was always perfect coiffed, her makeup neatly in place. She had her nails manicured once a week – not for the look mind you, but for the gossip in the salon – and bought only top of the line clothing.

She was a spitfire who'd grown up on her father's horse ranch. She could rope and ride like the best, but preferred working for me, running all the technical needs for the business. She was my right hand, the woman who glued RangeMan Dallas together. Whatever I needed, Kathleen would find, or die trying.

"So, bring me up to date." I said as we moved through the still busy airport.

Reaching into her purse Kathleen pulled out Buck's case file. I flipped it open and perused the material inside. I don't know why I bothered. I already knew Bucky's life like the back of my hand. That's why all of this seemed so out of character for him.

"The boys have packed up and headed down to Lumberton."

"When did they leave?"

"Around five." I did some mental calculating and nodded. That meant they were approximately five hours ahead of me. "I told them you were coming back, but pushed them out the door anyway. I didn't figure you'd want them to wait."

"Nope."

"I think they're going to set up camp then do some checking around in the morning."

"Has it been confirmed that Bucky's even _in_ the hunt club?"

"Like I told you earlier, Ben Pike thinks he's headed in there. He bought a crap load of food at the _Wal-Mart_, and his neighbor said he borrowed a tent from him the other day."

I nodded my head. "Sounds like Buckmeister's planning on camping out for a while."

"That's the popular consensus." She said reaching into her pocket for her pager when it went off. "Sean and T2 made it to Lumberton."

"Good."

"Where do you want me to bring you first?"

"Home. I need to change clothes and gather some gear." She nodded her head and we left the building for her car.

We were on the road about five minutes before she finally burst with questions. I knew it had to be killing her keeping silent. "So, is he coming?"

"Who?"

"Don't give me that. You know damn well who."

I shrugged and looked out the passenger window. "I don't think so."

Kathleen glanced my way. When I didn't say anything else she frowned. "Well that sucks."

"It's for the best."

"Did he sign those stupid papers?"

"Don't start." I whined.

"You know you don't want a divorce." I said nothing. "You only went up there with them to scare the shit out of him." Still, nothing. "I can see right through you, you know. You were hoping he'd trip all over himself trying to keep you by his side."

"Didn't work."

"I don't know," she replied doubtfully. "Ranger moves slowly, but he definitely moves." I smiled. "Don't give up on him, honey. He loves you or my name ain't Kathleen."

Sighing I looked out the window again. "He did ask me to wait."

"See. I betcha he was gonna come down here with you, but you pulled the rug right out from under him leavin' early like you did." She was right, in a small way. "You know he's not gonna let you go without a fight. Something extreme is gonna have to happen in order for him to sign those papers." Kathleen must have sensed my sadness over the situation because she reached over and rubbed my arm. "Don't lose faith, sugar."

"I'm trying not to, but I don't want to live this way anymore. Things are going to have to change, or he's signing those papers."

"Yeah, good luck with that." I chuckled lightly and closed my eyes. A quick catnap was in order if I was going to make it through the night.

By the time Kathleen pulled in my driveway, I was awake again. A thirty-minute nap always did me wonders.

There had been times in the past when I'd gone days living off short naps, too busy to let slumber take over. I knew it wasn't good for me, but when faced with losing two hundred thousand in cold, hard cash, I'd pass on the beauty rest.

The house was settled back in the woods on a private lake. Ranger and I had purchased the home shortly after marrying for an even million. It'd since then appreciated half of its value, showing no signs in stopping.

Like Ranger's apartment in Jersey, the house was under heavy security. Given the work we did it only made sense. No one really knew where we lived, but if someone had found out, there was no way they'd make it onto the property without being detected.

The only people who had a keycard to open the front gate other than myself were Kathleen, Sean, T2 and of course, Ranger. I'd thought about changing the code years earlier but left it the same considering he owned half the house.

_He probably didn't have the damn card to get in now anyway. He was a man after all_.

After passing through the gate, I looked around the property. The house and grounds were illuminated beautifully. There were lush flowerbeds all along the drive leading up to the front door. You could smell the night-blooming jasmine as you wound your way along the drive, its intensity hitting you full on the second you rolled down your window.

There was lakefront access in the back, but I rarely used it. The house had a mansion-like like feel to it on the outside, old world charm within. Given the way it was laid out, my chateau looked huge, but in reality it was only fifty-two hundred square feet; three bedrooms, four baths and a six car garage.

The garage had been Ranger's drooling point, the house mine.

There was also a two-story library off the main room and a media room off the master bedroom. I'd turned that space into my home office.

There were four fireplaces, a weight-room and a small wine cellar in the basement. I'd recently had a pool put in off the veranda, a Jacuzzi above it.

_This was no apartment on the seventh floor of an office building_.

This was home.

Before Kathleen even had the engine shut off to the Tahoe I had the door open, and was moving to get out. It felt good to be home. _Safe_. I knew who I was when I was inside these gates, inside these walls. This house was nothing like the apartment Ranger owned. This home was loved, had heart and personality.

I'd personally selected every painting and rug, all the furniture and draperies. I loved the high ceilings, marble fireplaces, rich woods and the light… _ohhh, the light was fantastic_. It touched you in every room. It was as much a part of what made the house a home as the furnishings.

Opening the front door I stepped inside and closed my eyes.

_Okay. You're fine now. It was a rough couple of days, but now you're home_.

Depositing my purse on the foyer table, I touched the roses the maid had put out and picked up my mail. Sifting through it absently, I walked up the stairs to my bedroom, and dropped everything on the desk in my office.

I could hear Kathleen moving about downstairs, making phone calls and connecting dots I couldn't be bothered with. Knowing she'd take care of everything for the trip, I busied myself with showering and packing a bag.

I'd just stepped out of the bathroom when Kathleen walked into the room. "I've checked in with the boys and they're setting up camp."

"Do they need anything?"

"No. I think they've got it all covered," she said sitting down on the bed. "Sean said to tell you, that he knew you'd be home today and that you'd been talking out your ass when you mentioned waiting thirty-six hours." Smiling I tightened the towel around my body and headed for my walk-in closet. "Are you going to want me to drive you down there or stay up here?"

"You're of more use to me here." I said grabbing some military fatigues and tossing them on a bench in the middle of the closet.

"Sounds good to me." Kathleen called out. "I don't like hangin' out in them hunt clubs. Too many bugs and critters. Gives me the willies just thinking about the snakes you might bump into."

I walked out of the closet, clothing in hand and watched her shiver. "Snakes won't bother you if you steer clear of them."

"And if they happen to slither into your tent at night?"

I shook my head at her laughed. "If you keep your tent closed up, it won't happen. Besides, when _ever_ have you turned away a _snake_." She grinned.

"That's besides the point," she looked down at her nails. "My luck some big ol' rattler bore his way in and slip into my sleeping bag." I rolled my eyes at Kathleen.

"You make me laugh." I slipped on a pair of panties and reached for my sports bra.

"How long you figuring on being down there?"

"Not long. Bucky's not that good at hiding and I figure after twenty-four hours he'll slowly go mad."

"Yeah, he'll need a Mickey D's hit before too long." I grinned at her and glanced over at the phone on my nightstand when it started ringing. It was my private line and not too many people had the number. "I'll get it." I nodded and continued to dress. After she'd answered it, I knew immediately who was on the line. "Well, _heyyyy_. Fancy you calling me here." She giggled. "Sure, handsome, hang on." Kathleen covered the phone with her hand and looked up at me. "It's Mr. Sexy."

"Uh huh." _I like I didn't know that_.

Walking over I took the phone from her. Kathleen didn't look too eager to leave so I shot her a look, blowing her bubble. She wandered off mumbling how her life wasn't as exciting as mine, and that she might just have to change that, and soon. I shook my head at her and put the phone to my ear. "I'm fine."

"Just checking in." Ranger replied.

"Did you think I'd get lost on the way home?"

"I'd hoped you'd change your mind and not return at all."

"Fat chance of that happening. Did I tell you I'd put a pool in?" I could almost see Ranger smiling on the other end of the phone.

"Shoved aside for a diving board."

"No diving board, but the Jacuzzi certainly makes up for your absence."

He was quiet a moment. "What are your plans now?"

"I'm heading down to Lumberton. The boys are setting up camp for the night. Tomorrow I expect we'll start bush hogging for a Buck." Silence. "Anything knew on Lafontaine?"

"Tank spoke to the sister's parents. She disappeared the day before yesterday with her brother. They're not worried. Apparently Mongeon's having her check in daily."

I walked over to the clothing I'd laid out on the bed and pulled on a pair of black cargo pants. Kicking my boots to the side, I sat down. "She's got to be playing house right about now, loving life."

"That's quite a bit for a twelve year old to take on."

"Yeah, and I bet you she's alone a lot too." I said on a sigh. "Have you told any of this to Morelli?"

"I saw him earlier but didn't mention it."

"Why?"

Ranger hesitated. "Wasn't a good time." That meant Stephanie had been around and business hadn't been at the forefront of his mind.

Annoyed, and hating myself for feeling that way, I grabbed a boot and yanked it on. "Okay. Whatever." I said in a clipped tone. He was there, I was here. There was nothing I could do about it. "Look, I need to go. I've got a five hour drive ahead of me."

"I miss you." Those three words flushed away my annoyance and had me stopping. I didn't know how to respond, not properly anyway. "I wish you'd waited for me."

"Like I told you earlier, I don't need you here. The business in Dallas has done fine without you for years."

"I'm not talking about business." Sitting upright from tying my boots, I stared off into space then flopped backwards onto the bed. "I know you can handle Buck Wellsley, Rachel. I'd wanted you to wait for me because I didn't want you rushing off with some half-thought out theory about my life here."

"I have no theories about your life, Ranger. You do what you want, whatever makes you happy. _My life_ is in Dallas." Silence. "Listen, I left the papers on my desk –"

"Now you're trying to piss me off."

"No. I'm trying to tell you that I need you to sign those papers. If I'd wanted to piss you off I'd have forgone all this drama and gone to Mexico." The silence on the other end of the phone was deafening. "I respect you and what we once shared –"

"_Once_ shared?"

"Baby, going to bed with you has always been the easy part. You know the physical has never been an issue."

"And you think this is just physical?" Now I was silent. "You're purposely hitting below the belt in hopes that you'll piss me off enough to sign my name on that dotted line." _Partly true_. "Well, it's not going to happen, Rachel."

"You might want to rethink that."

"Don't play with me." He said through clenched teeth. "If I thought for one minute that this relationship was purely physical, I'd wash my hands of you in a heartbeat. Do you think I need this game we've been playing with one another, that this is fun for me? You're my _wife_, Rachel. Till death do we fucking part. I'm not letting you go." And he disconnected.

Tossing the phone onto the bed beside me I covered my face with my hands. "That went well." I said scratching my head. "I probably pushed him a little too far this time."

_Probably_.

Cursing, I finished getting dressed then went over to my vanity table to finish getting ready. While I sat in front of the mirror I brushed my hair and stared back at the woman looking at me through the glass.

God certainly hadn't passed me by when he'd touched his magic to my face. My blue eyes, wavy blonde hair and pouty model lips had caught more than one mans attention. Today though, they might turn the other way.

I didn't mean to play with Ranger, and I really didn't want to hurt him. It was just easier being difficult than it was opening up and letting him in. I didn't have another man in my life, not romantically speaking anyway. I didn't have the _time_ for another man. Between my business and the side jobs I took on, my hands were more than full.

After pulling my hair back in a ponytail, I glanced over at the little porcelain box near my oil lamp. Opening it I fiddled with the rings inside, took them out and put them on my left ring finger. I gazed down at the square cut, two-carat diamond and ran the tip of my finger over the wedding band. My heart swelled in my chest remembering the day Ranger had put each on my finger. We'd been so in love.

Not wanting or needing to drag all that out, I pressed my lips to the rings on my finger, took them off and placed them carefully back in the box. I hadn't worn them for a while and wasn't sure I'd ever wear them again. That life, the love that we'd shared felt so far away. Almost like a dream or a fairytale.

Swiping at the tears that'd collected in my eyes, I got to my feet, grabbed my black _Gortex_ jacket and headed downstairs. There was too much to do in the days ahead. I didn't have time to stop and think about the past…


	16. Chapter 16

_**JE owns her own characters. Enjoy! ~ Maia**_

I finally reached camp about four AM and immediately crawled into the tent with the boys. They had my sleeping bag laid out and waiting for me. I figured I'd get about two hours sleep before they'd want to start for the day, and was badly in need of another catnap.

Being the great guys they were, they let me sleep in.

I woke around seven to the sound of bacon cooking and the smell of coffee brewing. Inhaling deeply, my stomach growled. With a yawn I checked my watch then glanced at the sleeping bags rolled up over in the corner. I'd been so gone I hadn't even heard the boys clean up and leave the tent. I was either losing my edge or flat out exhausted.

Crawling out of my sleeping bag, I ran my fingers through my hair then pulled it out of my face again. After rolling up my bag and depositing it with the others, I grabbed my jacket and headed out. Sean and T2 were standing fireside talking quietly as they sipped coffee. Sean saw me first. "It's alive!"

"Barely," I replied then smiled when T2 handed me a blue enameled coffee mug, filling it to the rim. "How long have you two been up?"

"About an hour." Sean replied. "You were dead to the world so we let you be."

"Thanks." I said to the both of them and wandered over to a table they'd set up. On it were maps of the surrounding area. They'd circled some spots, probably places they wanted to check first. "Where are we going?"

T2 stepped up and pointed to a red circle farthest out on the map. "Figured we'd take the longest hike first then work our way back." I nodded. "Thought about heading into town beforehand though, to see what was what before we went to all the trouble. Check and see if maybe someone saw Buck."

"Good idea." I said flipping through the maps. "We could always call in a couple of favors. Maybe have a chopper fly over tonight with night vision."

Sean, who'd been flipping bacon, turned to me. "If you're going to call in The Shark, you're gonna wanna to do it in town or charge the satellite phone. No cell service out here."

"No cell service in half of Texas." I grumbled. "I still think Bucky's going to cave soon. He's not the type to sit out here day after day, waiting. He needs interaction with others, fast-food, running water."

T2 grinned. "Pussy."

I laughed. "Pretty much. Not everyone's built like us, my friend."

I went to see what they'd brought me to eat. After locating some grapes and nuts, I sat down by the fire and stared up at the sky.

It was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in sight. It was probably going to be a scorcher later on, so I was glad I'd packed some short-sleeved shirts.

After the boys had filled themselves with eggs, bacon and coffee, we took a drive into town. The road out of the hunt club was a windy and dirt one, and things didn't change much once we hit pavement.

There wasn't much to Lumberton but a dirty, brown river called _Village Creek_, tall pine trees and fields. That's why the hunt club was so popular. A man could lose himself in the area for days, spending time fishing, hunting or camping.

The town had one motel, a diner, the library and a tiny grocery store with wicked high prices. There were a couple of fast-food joints, but nothing fancy.

We stopped by the sheriff's department first, just to make them aware that we were in town and looking for an FTA. Bumping heads against the locals sometimes went a lot easier when you had the sheriff behind your back.

As we pulled up in front of the building though, my stomach went sour. There was a swarm of green SUV's parked on either side of the street, men outfitted much like us standing curbside, chatting with the locals.

Stopping the vehicle and putting it in park, Sean turned to me and frowned. "What the hell is he doing here?"

"I'll give you two guesses," I said eyeing the crowd.

"That shady motherfucker," T2 said from the backseat. "I outta smash his face in, just for the fun of it."

Opening the truck door I turned to T2 and smiled, "Maybe later. I like the way you're thinking though."

William – the pig – Bell was my rival and enemy. He was the kind of bounty hunter that gave all bounty hunters a bad name. He pushed the coin, took the law into his own hands and flaunted his money, often.

I hated him just about as much as I could hate anyone, probably more. The handful of times we'd bumped heads he'd been lewd, crude and incredibly cocky. One of these days I hoped to knock his kahunas up into his throat.

"Well… looky here." His sidekick Brett Turner called out. "The cavalry's finally arrived."

Turner was Bell's badass, and usually the one getting Bell into trouble. He stood about six-foot, was built like a powerhouse and uglier than shit. When he smiled he was missing a few teeth, some courtesy of T2.

He had a penchant for greed, was as shifty as they came and lacking any morals. When we walked up to him his crew fell in behind him, all with their hands on their guns.

Shaking my head in amusement, I flashed a wicked smile at the group. "Where's your boss?"

Turner nodded towards the door and grinned slyly, preparing to square off. "Gettin' acquainted with the Sheriff. Looks like you're here a minute too late though. _Again_." I glanced down at the pavement, felt the boys stiffen behind me.

"What brings you boys to Lumberton?" I questioned, but before Turner could answer, Bell waltzed out of the sheriff's office prancing like a peacock, and grinning. Immediately I got a bad taste in my mouth, bile rising in my throat. That was the usual effect Bell had on me. He made me wanna puke.

Bill Bell was a short man, shorter than me, and all sleaze-ball. His signature black Stetson was tipped back on his tiny little head, his chubby cheeks home to perfectly white capped teeth. _Huge teeth_, I might add.

When his weasel-like eyes fell on me, I was sure I noticed his pants grow tighter, but I wasn't looking twice to be sure.

Shaking the sheriff's hand, he sauntered slowly down the steps, his eyes taking me in and devouring my body as he grew closer. He made me feel naked and dirty, but I took it all in stride.

"Well," he said flashing his pearly white incisors. "Puff and Stuff have arrived with their bombshell boss." His southern drawl was dripping sarcasm.

"What are you doing here, Bell?"

His eyebrows went up and he turned to his men. "She wants to know what we're doing here, boys." They all started to laugh. "It's funny you should ask that, beautiful. Seems to me we might be working on the same case again." My spine stiffened but I didn't move.

"You've got no reason to look for Buck. He's my FTA."

He slipped his tongue out of his mouth and lavishly licked his lips as his eyes moved up and down my body again. "You've been playing up on the Jersey shore too long, darlin'. Buck Wellsley's turned into quite the wanted man." I said nothing. "Didn't your boys tell you? The Federal Governments lookin' to speak with ol' Bucky. They're offerin' quite a monetary reward for his capture." I inhaled deeply and looked across the street as locals started drizzling in. "I was just talking to the Sheriff here about getting some help from the local folk. I figure what with the reward being so high," he pulled his pants up proudly, flashed a smile at the growing crowd. "I could part with a few thousand should someone help with the capture of his nasty little behind."

The sheriff came forward then, extended a hand. "Sheriff Keith."

I shook his hand and nodded. "Rachel Manoso. Buck Wellsley is my FTA." His eyebrows shot up. "I'm sure you can understand the situation presented before us."

"Don't let the FTA part bother you, sheriff." Bell piped up. "Dead or alive, Ms. Manoso gets her money back."

I narrowed my eyes at Bell then turned back towards the sheriff. "Sending a bunch of people out into the woods isn't something I'd recommend, sheriff." The man didn't look stupid, and I was pretty sure he wasn't all that crazy about Bell. He had a calm, honest look about him.

"Ain't nobody gonna get hurt." Bell crooned. "Me and my boys will make real sure of that."

"You're gonna have to if you want my people involved." Keith shot over his shoulder. Bell's smile dimmed some.

"Sheriff, I give you my solemn word… my boys will keep a good eye on everything."

"At least make sure no one goes in armed." I said to the both of them. "Wanted dead or alive is _just an expression_, we don't want anyone killing Wellsley."

"Bah," Bell said waving his hand. "Ol' Bucky will be fine."

"He'd have better odds if you weren't involved at all." Sean spoke up.

Turner moved in and glared at Sean. "We have every right to be here looking for Wellsley. Money's just as green to us as it is you."

"If it was just about money I wouldn't have a problem with you being here." Sean replied.

Turner started to advance, but Bell stopped him by slapping a hand on his back, chuckling towards the sheriff and locals like nothing was wrong. "Now, now, boys. Play nicely in front of the lady."

The look I shot Bell could've frozen Hell over. "Please make sure that if anyone comes into contact Wellsley, and makes an apprehension, that I'm informed?" He nodded his head and I pulled out a card. After jotting down the satellite phones number on the card, I turned to Bell. "I want my FTA, _alive_."

"Scouts honor," he crossed his heart like an idiot. "I won't hurt a hair on his head." For some reason I didn't feel reassured.

Turning and walking away, I inwardly seethed. My day wasn't starting off very well.

Once we reached the vehicle I glanced over at Sean. "You know anything about this?" I said to him over the hood.

"Nope."

"You're slipping."

"Yup," he replied, biting the inside of his lip and glancing over at T2. He wasn't about to help him. "You want to kill me now or later?" He asked turning on his thousand-watt.

Slipping my sunglasses on, I climbed into the vehicle. "Later. I need you too damn much to help me find Wellsley before Bell does something I'll regret."

"I don't like the civilian factor." T2 said from the back. "Someone's gonna get hurt."

"Turner pushes my buttons." Sean said glaring across the street.

"Put it away." I said to Sean then turned to T2. "Get on the horn to Kathleen. Tell her we need some help down here, and fast." He nodded his head once and pulled out his cell phone.

Having Bell involved in any manhunt was dangerous. The man had no scruples and would easily put a bullet in Bucky just to tick me off. He had no heart. I was sure of it. And what little brain he had left in his head rattled around like a pea.

Inhaling deeply, I glanced down at the cell phone I'd placed in the console and thought of Ranger. Maybe I'd been too quick in dismissing him and his help. There were three of us and too many of Bell's men to count. We were outnumbered four guys to one, and when you figured in the local factor…

_We were screwed_.

Groaning I turned to Sean. "Find out what the hell that reward is all about." He nodded his head. "And get me everything and anything you can from the Feds side!" I yelled. "This thing is fucked up beyond repair and I hate being out of the loop."


	17. Chapter 17

_**JE owns her characters… enjoy! ~ Maia **_

We'd spread ourselves thin, separating at times to cover more area. Buck hadn't been at any of the marked points, although one had looked promising. Someone had camped there recently, leaving only warm coals behind. Unfortunately, we couldn't tell if it was Bucky.

It'd been hotter than hell, approaching ninety with the humidity hovering at one hundred percent. I was badly in need of a shower, felt like I'd been wrung out and left to dry. Unfortunately a shower wasn't a luxury in my future so pouring a ton of water over my head would have to suffice.

After toweling my head dry I felt semi normal again, and quickly started scanning the maps for new areas to check. I hadn't eaten much all day long and the pit of my stomach felt like a gaping hole. Knowing the boys would take care of the food factor I picked up the satellite and called Kathleen.

"Tell me you've sent some men down."

"Help is on the way." I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. "The reward is set at three hundred thousand by the way."

"Fuck." I said with a shake of my head. "How could we have missed something like this?"

"I don't know. I feel real bad about it though."

"How soon until help arrives?"

"Didn't find anything out there today?"

I opened a bottle of water and settled back in my chair. "Nothing but critters and bugs."

"Ew." I smiled. "I hope something turns up soon. There's a storm brewing down in the Gulf. Could turn nasty by the time it hits land."

"_Perfect_." I said looking up at the sky. "What other bad news is the Lord going to toss my way today."

Kathleen was quiet. "You've been up against worse odds."

"This is the second time Bell's brought in civilians. I don't like it. People do stupid things for money."

"I know." Kathleen replied. "Listen, keep your chin up and get something to eat. You're never this ornery unless your stomach's empty."

"Bite me."

Kathleen chuckled, "Home base over and out." And she hung up.

I stared off into the darkness for a minute and drank my water. There was something bothering me, it was at the edge of my brain but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Something in Kathleen's tone had put it there.

Deciding it wasn't worth the time, I turned back to the maps. I was still focused on them thirty minutes later when all conversation from the boys stopped behind me, everything becoming deadly quiet.

Looking over my shoulder at Sean, we made eye contact and he positioned himself on alert, gun in hand. T2 was squatting by the fire, his eyes scouring the tree line carefully.

It might just have been a critter or it could've been one of the local folk poking around in the middle of the night. Either way we weren't taking someone sneaking into our camp lightly.

Getting to my feet, I unsnapped my gun holster and stared into the darkness, changing my mind. Whoever was out there wasn't an amateur. Maybe it was it was one of Bell's men playing with us or maybe we'd get lucky and it was Bucky. Either way, when a twig snapped we all readied and listened to the light foots steps in the distance.

"How far out?" I said to T2.

"Five hundred feet," he replied. "There's two of them."

"See anything?" He shook his head. "Probably a couple idiots Bell hired poking around in the dark." I didn't think so.

"Not moving this stealthily." Sean replied, his eyes two narrow slits in the firelight.

We stood there for what felt like forever, waiting for the approaching parties to break through the tree line. The night seemed darker than ever, the heat and humidity giving the moment an eerie feeling.

As I moved out of the firelight in hopes of gaining a better view, I caught my first glimpse of a figure. He was clad in black, his partner twenty paces behind him. As they were just about to break the tree line, it dawned on me why Kathleen had sounded so ill at ease.

She'd sent Ranger and Tank.

"Stand down," I said to Sean and T2. Shaking my head I holstered my gun. My first thought was, _what the hell was she been thinking_? Was Kathleen purposely trying to ruin my life?

My second thought, _Thank God_. But I wasn't about to let Ranger know that.

"Well, _sonofabitch_." Sean called out with a grin, crossing the short expanse of ground to hug Ranger. "You lost?" Ranger flashed him a look. "Doesn't matter, you guys are a sight for sore eyes!

After that brief greeting, Sean and Tank square off, crashing into each other and doing that male bonding thing that never ceases to amaze me. I almost wanted to smile watching them. They were like a couple of kids, all giddy and stupid.

While Sean lead them into camp, I stayed by the table, turning towards our newest members only when absolutely necessary. Tank caught my eye at one point, winking wisely. He knew my discomfort with the situation. My pride didn't think we needed them whatever my head told me.

Still, I flashed him a weak smile and tried to be grateful they were here. Ranger on the other hand said nothing, his expression stoic when it met mine.

T2 got to his feet and extended a hand towards Ranger. He took it, shook it and grinned. "She was right. You are bigger than Tank."

"I'll take that as a compliment." T2 replied then shook Tank's hand as well.

Sean stepped forward and grinned. "Don't let his size fool you. He's a pussycat under all that brawn and muscle."

"I certainly hope not." Tank returned with a grin. "What's T2 stand for anyway?"

T2 shrugged. "Ask dumbass, it's his nickname."

Grinning from ear to ear, Sean rocked back on his heels, ready to enlighten us with his brilliance. "The T stands for Terminator." T2 rolled his eyes. "He's like that robot in the second movie, always on a mission for the good of human kind. Never stopping until the bad guy's taken down."

"How fucking embarrassing," T2 replied shaking his head and turning back to the fire. I kind of liked it, but wasn't about to tell Sean or T2 that. The name fit. His real name on the other hand… _oye_.

After a few minutes of male bonding I heard Ranger excuse himself. The boys grew quiet while he walked over to me, all on edge. It wasn't that I was unhappy that Ranger was there. I just wasn't all that happy he was.

As he approached I turned and faced him, my expression indifferent. We stared each other down for a moment, neither sure what to say or do. I broke the silence first. "Hi." Was all I could say.

"Hi." He replied his eyes searching mine.

Here was my knight in shining armor, the man I'd wanted to come to my rescue, but wasn't sure I really needed until that very moment. He looked wonderful, sexy and a bit dangerous. My insides instantly liquefied.

Ranger must have sensed my weakening, because he stepped in closer, cradled my face in his hand gently, and kissed me fully on the lips. He tasted unbelievable and smelled even better. Forgetting the world around us, I slipped into Ranger's arms like a hand into a well fit glove, felt our bodies meld. For all that I was clinging to him, he was holding onto me just as tightly.

When we separated there was some _oohing_ and _ahhing_ from the peanut gallery, so I flashed them a look and a one fingered gesture. Ranger did nothing but look down into my face, his eyes devouring me much like a tiger would his prey.

Giving him an uneasy smile, I took a step away. "I didn't know you were coming."

"I know."

"Did Kathleen call you or did you come on your own?"

"I left this morning." That meant he'd come of his own accord. "When I stopped into the office this afternoon, Kathleen enlightened me of the situation."

"Fucking Bell."

"Don't let him get to you. That's what he's hoping for." I shook my head and turned back to the maps.

"We searched ten miles out today and worked our way back in. Nothing." He nodded his head and looked down at the maps. "We found a warm camp here," I said pointing to the map. "But nothing that would indicate it was Bucky."

"If it was him, he's changed locations quickly."

"I know." I said frustrated. "Did Kathleen tell you about the reward?" He nodded. "I hadn't a clue until I walked into town today and spoke with Bell. I felt like such an _ass_ not knowing, and let me tell you, he liked that look."

"Let it go. Your anger is getting in the way of the job."

"If you could've seen his face, bud –"

He reached out and touched my lips with two fingers. "Let it go, Rachel. He's not worth all this energy."

"He's brought in civilians." Ranger's eyes darkened. "Someone's going to get hurt."

He looked down at the maps again and frowned. "We'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen."

"How?"

"By finding Wellsley first." Running my fingers through my hair I reached for my water bottle, _still_ steaming. "You look gorgeous."

"I feel like crap."

"Nothing like a good hunt to get your blood boiling."

"Yeah, well, being at a standstill can cool it." He grinned. "Don't get any ideas about warming it up either. That's all the boys need to hear in the middle of the night."

Ranger's smile widened. "It's not like they haven't done it before."

"Not on my watch they haven't."

"You take all the fun out of camping." His smile was wicked and I couldn't help but return it.

"You're a pervert deep down, you know that? A genuinely perverted kind of guy."

He shrugged, "Guys like listening to others having sex."

"Don't make me hit you."

"You'll cave." I narrowed my eyes at him and his grin widened. "Isn't this where you're supposed to thank me for showing up?"

"It's not like you've done anything."

"I brought steaks and beer."

My eyes widened. "Oh, you're not playing fair."

He took my hand, pulling me towards the fire. "You're only ugly because you haven't eaten."

"Shut up." _How many people were going to tell me that today_?

"Heard that recently, have you?"

"I hate you." Ranger just grinned, kissed me on top of the head.

A little while later after Ranger and Tank had cooked the steaks, we all sat down around the fire with bowls of salad and some bread. The boys enjoyed the beer. Ranger and I stuck with water.

As I worked my way through my plate, my mind was buzzing. I couldn't get Bucky out of my head. I was afraid for him, not just because of Bell, but because of the guys he'd gotten himself messed up with.

Halfway through my salad, my steak untouched, I got to my feet and paced away. Everyone around the fire turned quiet. "What's the matter?" Ranger asked.

"I don't know." I said shaking my head.

"Come back and eat then." Tank called out. "You need the nourishment."

I turned to all of them and held up a hand. "Bucky's not out here."

"What?" Sean said through a full mouth. "Pike said –"

I shook my head at him. "I don't care what Pike said. Bucky's not out here. There's no way he'd hide out in a hunt club when he's got a shit load of money, drugs and guns in his possession. He wouldn't be able to relocate easily. That amount of goods would drag him down." Ranger set his plate aside and stared at me.

"Where would he go?"

"I don't know, but I bet you anything _Pike_ _knows_." I replied. "He sent us on a wild goose chase for a reason, probably to buy Buck time to get out of town. They both have to know there's a reward, and now that Bell's involved…" I laughed. "Bucky's not stupid. He knows Turner would shoot first and ask questions later."

T2 got to his feet while shoving his roll in his mouth. "I'll start packing up camp."

"I'll call Kathleen and get an address on Pike." Sean said moving towards the satellite phone, plate and beer in hand.

I turned to Ranger, he smiled at me, "Told you, you were letting Bell mess with your head."

"If I put this together it won't be long before he does."

"I'm pretty sure you've got a few hours on him." Ranger replied.

"Right." He held out a hand to me, but I shook my head. "I need to help the boys take down camp."

"You need to eat, Rachel."

"I'm fine." I replied backing away. As I did, I could feel the heat of Ranger's eyes, but I didn't let it stop me. We needed to move and quickly. I wasn't about to lose Bucky to Bell. Not for anyone.


	18. Chapter 18

A little while later we were pulling into Pike's yard. It was past nine, but that didn't matter. Not when there was a half a million dollars on the line.

As I climbed out of my vehicle I heard a pile of dogs barking and turned towards the side yard. Pike had a fenced in area with kennels. Inside there had to be about a dozen or more pit bulls, all snapping teeth and vicious personalities.

Shutting my door I glanced over at Ranger. He was staring at the dogs quietly when Tank approached. "I got a cure for all that racket." He said to the both of us.

"Not until after we talk to Pike." I replied, amused.

"You take all the fun out of life sometimes, you know that, doll?" I flashed Tank a wicked grin then headed up to pound on Pike's door with Ranger.

To say he lived in a house was stretching it bit. This was a clapboard with four walls and a single window. The dogs had a bigger area to run than Pike did. I wasn't even sure there was running water in the twenty by twenty structure, it didn't look like there was enough room for the plumbing.

As we approached, the front door opened, Pike emerging. "Who's out there?" He barked.

"Rachel Manoso." Pike mumbled something under his breath then stepped out into the night.

Obviously he hadn't been expecting anyone given his attire. Dressed in a pair of nasty boxers and a dingy white t-shirt - that probably should've been burned - Pike was a sight for sore eyes. _Seriously_, it hurt to look at him.

There were yellow stains along the neckline of his t-shirt, the armpits a skuzzy brown. His hair, if you wanted to call it that, was standing on end and in dire need of lube job, his face blanketed in a couple days growth. Hoping to keep him down-wind I stopped just shy of his stoop.

Pike frowned. "What's this all about?" He said scratching his balls, forcing me to look away. I didn't need a glimpse of Pike's little winky, if you know what I mean, and boy was this guy close to letting it all hang out. I wasn't sure what little I'd eaten for dinner could stomach such a display of manhood.

"You told one of my men you'd seen Buck Wellsley head into the hunt club." Pike's eyes met mine in the darkness.

"Might have."

"You sure about that?" I asked. His tired and beady eyes stared back at me coolly. "I was just out there looking around and it seems to me it's not a place Bucky would hide."

"Hunt club's good as any place to hole up for a while."

"Not if you're toting around stolen goods."

Pike's eyes narrowed then shifted Ranger's way. "Who are you?" Ranger said nothing. "Who's he?" He asked again, directing his question more towards me.

"My associate."

"Mean looking sonofabitch."

"Don't piss him off and you'll have nothing to worry about."

Pike snorted then glanced down at my card. "Bond Enforcement. You wouldn't be that woman would you?"

"Depends on who that woman might be." Pike grinned showing off tobacco stained front teeth that hadn't been brushed in years. My stomach tumbled once then steadied.

"I don't know nothin' about Buck, other than he said he was heading off to hide in the club."

"He said that to you, exactly?" He lifted a shoulder and let it drop. Feeling a bit impatient I took a step closer to Pike and immediately regretted it. The rancid stench rolling off of his ass was bad enough to water my eyes. "Look, if you could possibly remember something that might help us I might be able to make it worth your while."

Pike's smile turned disgusting, his idea of a good time shining brightly in his eyes as he gnawed on his lower lip. You could almost see the possibilities running through his little brain. Made me regret ever opening my mouth. "Yeah?" he said with an excited lilt to his voice. "Just how important is this information to you, pretty lady?"

"Not that important." Ranger replied from behind me. Pike's grin vanished.

"Who asked you?" The man shot back. "The lady and me are conductin' a little business."

"Don't make me hurt you." Ranger replied.

Pike turned his beady eyes my way. "Call off yer dog or this conversation is over."

I glanced back at Ranger then at Pike again. "Wish I could. Unfortunately he's feeling a little territorial."

"Oh yeah? Why?"

"She's my wife." Ranger said with a sneer and Pike's color drained. I could almost picture – _almost_ – Pike's little winky crawling back up inside of his body. Messing with a guy like Ranger was bad enough. Insulting his wife could prove to be deadly.

"Look, I don't know nothin'." Pike said backing up to head inside.

I quickly reached into my pocket and produced a fifty-dollar bill. "You sure you don't remember anything?" I waved the bill in the air, hoping to catch his attention. It did the trick.

Pike thought a moment, his eyes focused on the bill as the dogs barked madly in the background. "Shut up!" He roared and the dogs quieted a bit. "Stupid animals." I flashed him an understanding smile and he sighed heavily, his flaccid cheeks puffing out in the process. "I tell you whatever I know, and you'll give me that?"

"Ben, it's got your name written all over it if you can give me something good." His eyes met mine then shifted Ranger's way uneasily. He was still standing there staring at Pike, arms crossed over his chest in a way that had his biceps bulging. Just being in Ranger's company probably had Pike rethinking his situation. The fifty was a bonus.

Caving Pike reached for the bill. I pulled it back and held it out of reach with a smile. "Not until you tell me what you know."

"Alright, alright." Pike replied, his eyes moving from the bill and connecting with mine again. "I don't feel right about this though."

"He'll never know it was you."

"Yeah. Right." Pike replied then scratched his ass. I needed to make damn sure I never made physical contact with him when I handed him the fifty. God only knew what kind of cooties Pike was carrying around in those boxers. I was starting to itch just watching him dig at himself. "So, he's not in the hunt club." I smiled knowingly. "He is hiding though. I just don't know where at this point."

"Why?"

Pike shrugged his shoulders. "He's been moving daily. Never stays in one spot for too long."

"Where was he the last time you heard from him?"

"Somewhere outside of Houston at a Super 8 Motel." I glanced back at Ranger and he reached into his pocket for his cell phone to call Kathleen. "He would've made his court date if'n he hadn't been approached by that Fed."

"_Excuse me_?" I shot back. "A federal agent approached Bucky? Why?"

"Stuff he's got belongs to them." Ranger paused in his conversation, stared at Pike. "He's been working with one of them to bring in some Cubans working the shoreline down in Galveston."

"You sure about this?" I questioned and Pike nodded. I looked away, trying to match up what he was telling me with the Buck Wellsley I knew. Something wasn't adding right.

"Feds asked Bucky to work as a go between. They been using him to set up meetings, arrange shit, ya know? Fucking Feds been feeding him everythin'. He's just passing information along."

"What's he getting for his trouble?"

"Not quite sure, really. He's been pretty liquid lately. _No_ money problems. Zero." I shook my head, disgusted. "Things went bad last Sunday though. Somehow the Cubans caught wind that the stuff Bucky was selling wasn't free and clear. Feds moved in and Bucky bolted, but not without a crap load of them Cubans trailing after him." Pike shook his head. "Before I knew what was what he'd landed on my doorstep, begging me to hide his ass from them Feds _and_ the Cubans. He's scared shitless, really scared. I think he believes if he goes back and makes a deal with the Cubans, he'll make out better than if he brings the Feds their shit back."

"He's playing Russian Roulette." Ranger spoke up.

"I know that, and I told him so. Those Cubans won't think twice about killing Bucky and makin' off with all that governmental stuff. Then where will he be? Dead, that's where. He won't listen to me though. No sir. He just keeps movin' around, calling the Cubans and avoiding the Feds."

I handed Pike the fifty, thanked him for his time and told him to call me if he heard from Bucky. It was a matter of life and death at this point. Bucky's.

Back in the truck I shook my head and tossed my gun onto the dash. "Why are people stupid?" I asked Ranger.

"If I knew the answer to that, baby, I wouldn't need to be in this business."

"Bucky's going to get himself killed."

"The civilians in Lumberton are small potatoes considering what he's up against." He mumbled as he backed out of Pike's driveway, heading off into the night.

"Think he's still in Houston?"

"No. I think he's slowly moving his way back down the coast."

I groaned and dragged my hands over my face. "He's got to be taking those drugs in order to think he can pull this off." Ranger glanced my way.

"You realize there's a very good chance we won't get to him in time."

I shook my head, turned towards the window. "I can't think that way." I whispered. "Not yet anyway." When I turned back to Ranger he reached across the console and took my hand. His felt warm and strong, a comfort in the darkness that seemed to stretch on for miles. "We'll go check out that motel in town, catch a few winks and move out at first light."

"You need more than a few winks, Rachel. You're motoring on borrowed energy."

"I'm fine." Ranger sighed softly. "I just need a catnap and a shower."

"How many catnaps are you running on now?" I shrugged my shoulders. He was pissed. "I know you didn't sleep much the night before last night. What time did you get into camp this morning?"

"Early."

"How early?"

He wasn't going to let up. "Okay, so it was later than early. Happy?"

"No, I'm not happy!" _Whoah_. "Killing yourself to find Buck Wellsley isn't the answer, Rachel."

"Got us out of the hunt club and got us the info we needed from Pike tonight, didn't it?" Silence. "Cut me some slack, Ranger. I've been doing this just as long as you have. I'm good at what I do too." Still, Ranger stayed quiet. "Don't worry so much about me." I grumbled.

"Instinct."

"Yeah, well… turn it off." Now I was pissed.

Caving first this time, Ranger lifted my hand and brushed his lips across my knuckles. "You wish," he mumbled, the tenderness in his tone catching me off guard.

Too tired to stay mad at him, I leaned my head back against the seat and swiveled it his way. He was so handsome, more handsome than any man I'd ever known. Countless women at fallen at Ranger's feet, but he'd chosen me. I was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It made my heart swell and ache when I remembered.

"Thank you."

He looked over at me, clearly frustrated as he brushed a finger down my cheek, concern filling his handsome features. "Take a nap."

"Not tired." I said yawning, my eyes closing as I did. Within seconds I drifted off, my fight gone as sleep claimed my body.

"Take your super cape off for a while, baby." I heard him whisper. "I'll protect you while you let go."

And that was the last thing I heard before I totally shutdown…


	19. Chapter 19

_**I own nothing. I'm only playing with JE's characters, and boy do I love to play with Ranger… ~ Maia**_

I woke the next day half naked and curled up in Ranger's arms. I couldn't remember getting there, couldn't remember anything after getting in the _Tahoe_. It was all one big blur, which wasn't going to help my case with Ranger any. I must have been a little more tired than I'd realized.

Sensing Ranger's scrutiny, I turned and looked up into his gaze. "Hi." Amusement lit his handsome features. "Guess you were right. I was pretty tired."

"You think?"

"No rubbing it in."

"Darlin', I wouldn't think of it."

Lifting the sheet covering us, I eyed his lack of clothing and pondered the little I had on. "Tell me you undressed me."

"I undressed you," he replied matter-of-factly and with a quick nod.

Eyeing him skeptically, I moved away to get a better look at his face. "You wouldn't lie to me about something like this, would you?" He shrugged. "Jerk."

"I'm just messing with you," he said with a chuckle as he pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. "Do you honestly think I'd let someone see you naked?"

"To prove a point?" His smile was thoughtful for a moment and I elbowed him.

"Ow!" Now he was laughing.

"You be nice."

Cradling my face in his hands, his expression softened. There was so much love shining in his eyes. "I missed you."

"We were only apart for twenty-four hours."

"Too long," he breathed, covering my lips with his own.

After he'd moved away, I kept my eyes closed and sighed softly. "Do that again."

"I do it again and I might not stop."

"So?" And that was all it took.

Within minutes my half nakedness turned to full, what little clothing I'd worn replaced by Ranger's hands and mouth. I couldn't think of a better way to start the day. Being loved and tended to by a gorgeous man was better than coffee, in my opinion at least.

I didn't know where he'd learned the art of lovemaking, but boy did Ranger know how to do it well. He probably came by it naturally, just like everything else in his life. This guy could make your body hum a pretty song, the beat all his own. He was without a doubt, hands-down, the best lover I'd ever had.

Ranger could take my body and turn it inside-out with the touch of a finger, the slip of his tongue. My mind would be overridden by my senses, my brain turning to mush whenever he put his hands on me.

I gave myself willing to him, heart and soul. Everything I felt was in my eyes when he rose above me, settling between my legs and slipping inside. We fit together perfectly. It was as if we were made for each other. There was no one in my life that gave and took the way Ranger did. No one I would've shared myself with so completely.

With the glow of our love shining all around our bodies, I snuggled into Ranger and let myself drift for a moment. "You are _sooo_ good at that," I whispered, pressing my lips against his chest. He chuckled softly, his fingers lightly running up and down my back. "I wish we could stay like this forever."

"Why can't we?"

I inhaled his scent deeply, imprinting it on my brain as I looked up at him. "Geography, for one." I said resting my chin on his chest

"Is that what's holding you back?" I shrugged and felt my heart give a little. He'd done so much for me, given me so much of himself and all I'd done was hold back.

"Every time you touch me I feel my resolve slip a little." Ranger's eyes darkened.

"That's the first honest thing you've said to me this week."

"No, it's not," he touched my face, his eyes like two pools of darkness. "Anything I've told you has been from my heart at the moment."

"I like this moment best."

Turning my head to the side I looked off and enjoyed the silence. I never wanted to leave this room, this bed. I didn't care at the moment if Bucky was found dead or alive. All I wanted was Ranger. I needed this closeness we shared, needed to know that no matter what things would never change between the two of us. He was my heart, my soul. I'd never felt this connected to someone in my life.

Closing my eyes I listened to Ranger's heart beat in his chest and felt alive. Alive enough to turn to him and say, "I love you."

Looking down into my face, Ranger quickly wiped away the tears staining my cheeks, rolled me onto my back and kissed me. While he soothed away all the hurts he'd caused he whispered words of love in his native tongue, his heart in his eyes. "If you think I'm going to let you go now, you're out of your mind."

"I don't want you to." Ranger closed his eyes, emotions crossing over his features as he pulled me close. "You know I'm not good at forgiveness, and I rarely forget a thing, but when it comes to you…" I drifted off. "I love you, you're my world. I don't want to be away from you one second more."

Ranger moved away, gazed into my eyes, searching for the truth that was right there. When he found it, I felt a change in him. "_Ángel dulce, usted es mi corazón,_" he whispered. _Sweet Angel, you're my heart_.

As usual, my cell phone started ringing somewhere in the room. We both looked around, neither wanting to find it anytime soon. When it stopped ringing, I turned to Ranger and he grinned. Then, as if on cue, Ranger's cell phone started ringing. "What the fuck." He growled throwing back the covers and reaching for his pants.

"Don't answer it." I whined and he laughed. "_Don't_." I pleaded.

"It's Tank." I groaned, covering my head with a pillow. "I told him to call us when they were up for the day."

"I'm not up yet. Just ignore him. Maybe he'll go away."

"Doubtful." He replied and answered the phone. "Yo." I laughed and climbed out of bed, heading for the bathroom.

There I checked my reflection in the mirror and was pleased to find that the dark circles that'd taken residence under my eyes, not as pronounced as the day before. I'd also gotten some color back in my cheeks, and probably not because of sleep.

Running my fingers through my hair, I turned my head from side to side and grinned at my well loved and sexy – and I'm using that term loosely – reflection. I had bed hair and red splotches all over my neck and face, more than likely from Ranger's stubble.

Checking my reflection closer, I grimaced a little. I wasn't positive, but it looked like there might be a hicky on my shoulder! The bastard had left his mark on me in more ways than one.

After using the bathroom I wandered back out to Ranger and caught him just hanging up the phone. "They ready to rock and roll?"

"Half an hour." I made a face and he laughed. "Gives us time to shower."

"Yeah," I said cocking my head to the side. "You wouldn't have left a hicky on my shoulder, would you?" He got to his feet, crossed the room to stand in from of me. Just the naked sight of had my body kicking into gear.

"That's not a hicky."

"No?"

"Naw. They're usually more purple."

"Looks pretty purple to me." I countered and he squished up his eyes, took a closer look. "Need a magnifying glass?" His eyes met mine. "I'm pretty sure you got a little carried away right there, bud."

"Maybe," he said with a shrug and dismissing it. "I don't remember though, so…" Shoving him he laughed and made a grab for me as I bolted for the shower.

"I'm gonna leave hickies all over your body when I get you naked again." I yelled, squirming in his arms.

"Baby, I _am_ naked."

I stopped moving and looked down at him. "Then I'd better get started."

"Okay by me." He quickly put me down.

"You're insatiable." I said with a grin as he walked me backwards towards the bathroom. Before I knew it, he had my back pressed against the door and was closing in fast.

"I'm a pervert, remember?" His fingers trailed between my breasts, danced a little sexual jig on their way down my torso. My sharp intake of breath had him grinning.

"Two can place at this game," I said slipping my hand between the two of us and capturing my prize. Now it was his turn to be tortured.

"Get in the shower," He almost growled, his heavy lidded gaze closing in ecstasy.

"Will you join me?" I taunted, all sweet and cute. His eyes flashed opened, the intent there very clear. "_Oh my_," I said slipping out of his arms and laughing. He shifted his position, his brown eyes traveling over my naked body as he moved in for the kill.

"You waste too much time and we'll be late."

"How about we're late anyway?" I said hopping under the spray, pulling him in with me.

"You won't get any arguments here," he said shoving me back against the shower wall with one hand, the other slipping under my backside and lifting me up. "Hang on tight," he whispered as he entered me, his lips covering mine when he started rocking us into motion.

My only response was a soft moan and a sigh, as I let him take me again...


	20. Chapter 20

Forty-five minutes later we met the boys in coffee shop across the street from the motel. They'd already ordered coffee and juice all around, and were currently flirting heavily with a very cute little blonde waitress.

Exchanging glances with Ranger, we both laughed. The girl looked about eighteen, her blue eyes as big as saucers as she took in our overly muscled crowd.

As Ranger and I approached, her eyes got even bigger and she just about tripped over herself trying to get out of his way so he could sit down. I'd never seen anyone blush so brightly.

"You alright?" Ranger asked, steadying her on her feet. She nodded her head quickly, her eyes skipping my way briefly as I took a seat.

"'Bout time you two crawled out of bed." Tank said with a sly grin.

"Who says we were in bed?" Ranger replied. Then turning his attention to the waitress, he smiled at her sweetly. "These boys giving you a hard time?" she quickly shook her head, apparently struck mute.

"We wouldn't do that." Sean spoke up his thousand-watt smile firmly in place.

"Yes, you would," I mumbled and his player gaze flicked my way. Sean was a notorious ladies man. He loved them big, small, blond, tall, with a mohawk or rainbow streaks, it didn't matter. If it had an X chromosome, Sean was all over it.

"Oh, come on," Tank groaned. "We're just spreading some morning sunshine." I made a gagging face and he grinned. One of these days one of the waitresses they flirted with was gonna have a boyfriend somewhere in the shop listening. Someone bigger – if it was even possible – and badder than they were. When that happened, I was going to sit back and watch the fireworks over a piece of pie.

Mandy, or so her nametag said, turned to Ranger and I. "What can I get you folks?" She asked in a quiet voice. She looked like she'd just fallen off of a church bus, all prim, proper and polite. I didn't think it was possible, but her blush grew even more as Ranger started talking to her. The girls damn blush spread from her cheeks, down her neck and probably all the way down to her toes. Poor thing, she had no idea what kind of men she was dealing with.

Picking up my menu I shook my head at the whole scene. Maybe the company I kept said something about me. Damsels in distress seemed to attract more attention than I realized. It was quite possible being self-sufficient wasn't an asset anymore. Did men really like their women to be needy and without a spine? In my personal opinion all women should carry a gun, and not just for self defense purposes. You tended to weed out the bad from the good when you proved you could carry your own.

Deciding this was too much to ponder without food in my stomach, I closed my menu and waved towards Mandy to get her attention. She was still glued to the head of the table, right smack between Ranger and Sean.

Turning my way, she seemed to relax some at my non-intimidating smile. "I'd like the fruit plate and a slice of wheat toast."

"You're gonna eat more than that, aren't you?" T2 mumbled near my ear.

I turned and glared at him. "Why are you so damn concerned about my eating habits?" I whispered back, hoping not to cause a seen.

"Because they're poor," Sean spoke up. If there'd been something within throwing distance that would've left a mark, I would've pegged it at Sean. He was sitting across the table from me, scowling, arms crossed over his chest, biceps bulging in hopes of browbeating me into a bigger meal.

"Don't you start too," I warned handing Mandy my menu. "And I'd like a glass of water, please." She took the menu from me, leery of the expressions at the table.

Annoyed with the whole lot of them, I excused myself and went to stand by the window.

I wasn't that I didn't eat. I did! Sure they dug at me a lot for eating 'twigs and berries' but it really wasn't true. I could pack it in just like the rest of them. Well, maybe not like T2, but I could hold my own. I just didn't enjoy eating heavily. Especially not while working.

Dialing Kathleen, I waited for her to pick up. I needed her to call in some favors down in Galveston, see if it was even possible she could round up what pier Bucky had boated out of.

While the phone rang I listened to the boys place their order then turned, glaring at Ranger when he said to Mandy. "And bring my wife a stack of pancakes, would you?"

"I'm not eating them." I called out. He turned to me and cocked and eyebrow.

"Not eating what?" Kathleen said on the other end of the phone.

"The pancakes Ranger just ordered for me."

"Wouldn't hurt you, you know. Put some padding in that trunk of yours."

I pulled the phone away from my ear and stared at it dumbfounded. _What was with these people_? "My trunk is fine, thank you very much." I could almost picture her rolling her eyes.

"Nooo, darlin'. _My_ trunk is fine. F-I-N-E, _fine_. Yours needs a bit more junk in it."

"If I let it get too huge I won't be able to chase down an FTA."

"Sweetheart, you could gain ten pounds and still look fantastic."

Groaning I turned towards the window. Better to change the subject and leave my trunk, and eating habits, alone. Besides, where did she get off complaining about my ass? My ass was fine! _F-I-N-E_, _fine_!

"I need you to call in some favors for me."

"Alright," I heard her rustling in the background. "What kind of finessing am I doing today?"

"I don't know if this is possible, but I want to know the pier Bucky boated out of." She sighed heavily.

"It's not like they have a sign-in log for that crap."

"I know. Give it a shot though, and I don't care what you have to do to get the information. I also want to know of any storage companies near by."

"Second request was easier than the first." I smiled.

"I don't think Buck's carrying all those goods around with him. It'd be too risky when he's changing locations every other day."

"Peck have any idea what kind of vehicle he's driving?"

"He never mentioned it and I didn't think to ask. You can call around up there and see if he's borrowed a car from someone. Maybe a van or a truck with a cap."

"He might have bought something on the fly."

"Not unless he paid cash for a beater in someone's yard. He can't be bothered with tags right now, and the authorities would jump all over him if he was driving around in an unregistered."

"Then he's gotta have help. You think he's spending the money?"

I sighed heavily. "I don't know. He'd be a fool if he did. Sharp said he was pretty liquid before he left. I think the Feds are really making this worth his while."

"I can't see the Feds dragging in an innocent bystander like this. Something feels off."

"I know." I said quietly, my eyes focused outside the window. "Another thing," I glanced over my shoulder at the table, making sure everyone was still seated. "Call down to Lumberton and see what's what with Bell."

"You think he's still there?"

"I think if he found out I left last night..." I trailed off. "There's too big a reward on this for him to walk away. We might have slinked off into the night unnoticed, but it won't take him long to pick up on our trail."

"Humph." She replied, clearly disgusted. "I don't like him being involved in this at all. Makes things tricky. Just wait until he finds out Ranger's here."

"Yeah, I know." I thought of Morelli then for some reason and bells went off in my head. "I'll call you back in a bit," and I hung up the phone.

Dialing Morelli quickly, my mind started to spin. "I didn't think I'd ever hear from you again." He answered.

I smiled. "You didn't really think you could get rid of me that easily."

"Heard you had a big case steal you away."

"Yeah, something like that."

"High bond?"

"Two hundred thousand with a three hundred thousand kicker from the Federal Government."

"_O-la-la_. Sounds like you _are_ onto something big."

"It's quite possible." I replied, worrying my lower lip. "Speaking of the Federal Government…" I trailed off.

"Do I owe you a favor for something?" I smiled sheepishly as I looked out the window. "Because I really don't think I do."

"I thought of you first. Don't I get an A for effort?"

"I don't know. Maybe a C considering the crowd you hang with." I laughed.

"How about we make a deal, you scratch my back and I'll help with one of your needs later."

"_Now_ you're talking my language." My toes curled slightly at his tone, the suggestive nature bringing up all kinds of sexy images in my head. Feeling guilty I glanced back at Ranger and found him watching me very closely, and with keen interest. _Ut-oh_.

"My FTA's name is Buck Wellsley. He's wanted by the Feds for questioning on a drug and gun bust that went haywire down in Galveston." Joe was quiet. "Story has it my FTA was a go between for two parties, the other being of Cuban descent. Someone dropped the ball because neither the Cubans nor the Feds have their goods, and my FTA's running around with all of their shit."

"Sonofabitch, Rachel."

"I know."

"This guy have a death wish?"

"Just extra stupid, I'm afraid."

"What exactly are you looking for?" Loaded question.

"Anything and everything you can get me at this point. I need someone on the inside who can poke around a bit."

"Someone with _vice_ connections." I grinned.

"You did say you weren't homicide." He grunted his response.

"You think this isn't a Federal job."

"I think Bucky's a scapegoat for someone in Washington wanting to make some extra retirement money."

Joe groaned. "You may be getting us both involved in something that might be over our heads."

"I know, and I wouldn't ask you to get involved if I really didn't think you could help." He was quiet.

"You know, I should tell you no and demand that you walk away yourself." _Ha_! "That's not going to work though, is it?"

"You're worried about me." I said with a smile. Hadn't he just accused me of the same days earlier?

"Damn right I am," he shot back then laughed. "I wouldn't want anything happening to that pretty little face of yours. It's been haunting my dreams. That and your… other stuff."

"You're _bad_." I said looking out the window. He was a very good flirt and way too honest considering who I was married to.

"Hey, uh…" he paused. "Ranger's disappeared."

"Trust me, I know right where he is." I replied, looking over my shoulder as I did.

"Good. One less thing for me to worry about for a little while."

"How's the Stoddard case coming along?"

"Slowly. We're turning over every rock we can, but they've gone under. Who would've thought they were smart enough to go this deep though." Shaking my head I leaned against the picture window and tried not to let that case get to me. "We'll find them, Rachel. Don't worry."

"I do. I'm afraid for those kids." We were both quiet for a few minutes. "Listen I've gotta run. We're heading down to Galveston in a bit."

"I'll be in touch." He replied and I hung up.

I stared out the window a few more moments, thinking about what was going on back in Jersey. A part of me wished I didn't care, that I hadn't been there to get involved. I had too much on my plate already and really didn't need the guilt festering inside over Emily Stoddard. I knew I could help, I just didn't have the time right now.

Pushing it all back down, I went back to the table just after our breakfast arrived. Sure enough, there was a huge plate of pancakes sitting right in the middle of my place setting, the toast and fruit pushed off to the side.

Shoving the pancakes towards the middle of the table I picked up a grape and popped it into my mouth. "Just got off the phone with Kathleen. She's going to check on the pier and see if she can come up with any storage companies nearby."

"How long you think before Buck makes it back down the coast?" Tank questioned.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He's waiting for someone to come through with a good enough offer."

"Stupid." Sean replied. "He'll never make it out of there alive."

"I know that and _you_ know that, but Bucky's…" I twirled a finger near my ear. "Seems to me that someone hasn't been entirely honest with the Buckmeister. Peck was sure he was dealing with the Feds but I don't think this is a federal job."

"Neither do I," Ranger replied. "You got any contacts in Washington?"

"I just called in a favor. We'll see where it leads."

"I might have one as well." He said reaching for his coffee.

"What I want to know is where these so called Feds got their goods." T2 said stabbing one of my pancakes and plopping it onto a plate. "There's got to be an inventory guy somewhere on someone's payroll."

I watched him as I nibbled on my toast. "You still talk to that guy over in Texas City?"

His eyes met mine momentarily then he smiled. "Curtis? Sure."

"His brother's PD, right?"

"Yup." I watched warily as he slathered butter onto the pancake, counted calories as he doused it with syrup.

"He might have heard something, might even know someone who has access to the kind of goods we're talking about?" T2 nodded his head and shoved the pancake towards me. I eyed it then T2. "What?"

"You eat one and I'll call Curtis."

I glared at him. "I'll call him myself."

"Last time you saw Curtis he hit on you and you punched him in the face." _Oh yeah, I forgot about that part._

I shrugged. "A technicality."

"He hit on you?" Ranger said moving in close, dragging the prepared pancake closer towards me. "Do I need to speak to the man?"

"Did you miss the part where he said I punched him in the face?" He hadn't, and smiled as he cut a bite of pancake and held it up to my mouth. "That thing is going to sit in my stomach like a lead ball."

"I've been with you over twelve hours and you've had five bites of lettuce. Eat." He ordered. I shook my head.

"She had half a cup of trail mix and some grapes before that." T2 chimed in. _The traitor_!

"All the more reason she should eat this pancake." Ranger replied, his eyes darkening.

"I don't understand why everyone feels the need to be so involved in my eating habits." I exclaimed. Silence answered. "You all suck." Glancing down at the piece of pancake Ranger was dangling in front of me, I pressed my lips shut.

"Eat it." He demanded.

"I really, really don't want to."

"I'm really, _really_ going to hurt you if you don't." The heavy sigh that escaped my lips wasn't one of defeat, but of frustration. I took the fork from Ranger and eyed the dripping chunk of cake with disgust. "Open your mouth, put it on your tongue, chew it and swallow. It's that easy."

"I –"

"_Now_, Rachel." He said firmly and I jumped. I looked around, eyeballing each and every one of them murderously. They were going to pay for this, big time.

Opening my mouth, and feeling like a side show freak, I'd just started to put the pancake on my tongue when Ranger's cell phone rang. Pausing, my eyes met his as he reached into his pocket and pulled it out. "Don't let this stop you."

"Answer your phone." His eyes never left mine.

"Yo." He said flipping the phone open. "Hey," he said, a stunned look crossing his face as he shifted away for privacy and quieted a bit. I let the fork fall and stared at him. The more he listened to whoever was on the line, the more he turned away from me.

Looking over at Tank for some help, fury filled my body when his eyes wouldn't meet mine right away. When they finally did, he shook his head and reached for his coffee. We both knew who was calling.

Turning towards T2, I stared at him a moment as my body started to vibrate. He watched the scene then mouthed, "What hell?"

Playtime was over and my appetite was gone. "I'm going outside."

"Rachel…" Tank said leaning back in his chair. I didn't acknowledge him. If I said anything, if I stayed, I was sure I'd cause a scene the guys didn't need to witness. And given that I wasn't one to cause them, I knew this was my cue.

Behind my back, Tank flashed Ranger a look of disgust and pointed in my direction heatedly. Nodding his head once Ranger waved Tank after me, his ear still pressed to his cell.

Outside, I heard Tank come up behind me but I didn't turn. "Hey." He said touching my shoulder.

"Every time I think I understand him, the rug's pulled out from under me."

"Don't let that bother you." He said moving in my line of sight and gesturing back towards the building.

"How would you feel if something like this was happening to you?" He sighed heavily and held out a hand of comfort towards me. When I waved it off, Tank placed both hands on his hips and looked away. "You know her."

"A little bit, yes."

"What's she like?" He snorted, half with disgust, half with amusement.

"She's a pistol."

"Great. Perfect." I hissed leaning back against the Tahoe and scowling.

"Look. Nothing I tell you is going to give you the warm fuzzy's, Rachel."

"How long have they been involved?"

Tank tossed the question around in his head a moment before answering. "I wouldn't call them involved, really."

"He has feelings for her."

His face fell slightly. "Yeah." He said quietly. "But that doesn't replace what he feels for you."

"See, that's the thing, and Ranger doesn't get it either. It doesn't matter that he loves me more. He has feelings for this woman and I don't want _any woman_, other than myself, pulling on my husband's heartstrings. How can he not understand that?"

"You've been apart for a while, hon."

"And that's supposed to make everything okay?" He chewed the inside of his lip, looked off into the distance. "He's a hot-blooded, jealous man. He's territorial. Why can't he understand that I'm the same?"

"I think he does."

"Really?" He shrugged.

"Sometimes you can't shut it off," he replied. "And I don't think whatever he's feeling for her came easy. I think she slipped under his skin when he wasn't looking." That didn't make me feel any better either. "She's nothing like you, Rachel. You're practically polar opposites." _Where had I heard that before_? "Where you can get yourself out of a jam, Stephanie's constantly getting herself into one."

"So, I'm penalized for being self-sufficient."

He cocked his head to the side, confused. "Huh?" I waved it off and he frowned. "I wish I could give you an example, something to make you understand why the situation is what it is, but it's not my place."

"He's pretty stiff lipped about it all too."

"If it's any consolation, I think Ranger helps her most of the time because he feels sorry for her."

"He's slept with her." Tank's eyes met mine and held, the stunned look on his face one I rarely saw. "Didn't know I knew that, did you?"

"No."

"How did _you_ find out?"

He cursed lightly and rubbed his bald dome. "A guy knows when his friend is sleeping with a woman." He replied, clearly uncomfortable. "Look, it was only that one time."

"One time or twelve, who gives a shit. He slept with _another_ woman, Tank. How am I supposed to feel about that?"

"I don't know, but it was _only_ _the one time_."

"That you know of!" I shot back. "He made a mistake once, and I'm probably working my way around to forgiving him for it," I conceded. "But this… this bullshit with Plum is something completely different. His obligation and desire to be a good parent to Julia doesn't share space with this one."

"I know, but –"

"Stephanie Plum is different, Tank. _Period_." He couldn't argue with me. He knew it was true. "He's not walking away from this one. Whenever she needs him, he's there! And I won't be sorry that the the situation doesn't sit well with me!" Hearing myself I closed my eyes and turned away. "_Damnit_!" I pounded my palm against my forehead. "I take two steps forward and something knocks me right back to where I was before."

"I didn't mean to make this harder on you."

My blue eyes met Tank's and held firmly. "You didn't do anything. None of this is your fault," I replied sadly.

The door to the coffee shop opened then, Ranger emerging. Glancing at him briefly I turned away, very unsure I was capable of having a rational conversation with him at the moment. When Tank left us alone though, I knew I had no choice but to try.

Hearing the door to the coffee shop close behind us, I stayed by the truck, my back ridged with fury. Ranger took a few steps closer then stopped. A wise move, all things considered.

"I think we've reached an impasse," he said quietly. I closed my eyes and tried pulling up some of the emotions I'd felt earlier in the motel room. It was like everything had vanished, been erased or washed away with that single phone call. "I can't turn my back on her, Rachel –"

"No, I'm sure you can't. That would be too easy." I replied venomously.

"She looks up to me like a mentor."

I spun around, "In bed, too?" His jaw tightened then release. "You need to make a choice, bud. Either she goes or I go."

"And you don't find that a bit unfair." His patience, like mine, was waning.

"Nothing in life is fair anymore, Ranger. Hell, look at where we are, where we stand with one another."

His jaw dropped open. "I thought we were beyond all this."

"Not when it follows us everywhere we go." I replied. "You were young and stupid _once_. I've forgiven you for that time." I took a step towards him, my cool blue eyes meeting his. "You're no longer allowed to use young and stupid for excuses."

"I don't like it when someone tries to tell me what to do."

"_Newsflash_, neither do I." I said simply. "But, guess what? You're the only one who can fix this, Ranger."

"How?"

"I made it very clear this morning in the motel that I'm more than willing to give us another shot. My problem is, the only person I can control is myself." He looked down. "And if you don't know this already, I don't want you anywhere near Stephanie Plum." His eyes met mine. "I can't make you walk away from her. That's got to be _your_ decision. I can, however, make _damn sure_ that whatever you choose, doesn't hurt me anymore than you already have."

"I'm not trying to hurt you, and I never meant to in the past."

"That doesn't mean that you haven't or couldn't again." Distracted, I glanced over his shoulder and realized the guys were standing just inside the doorway of the coffee shop, waiting on us. "Unfortunately we're going to have to shelf this for now." Ranger glanced towards the door.

When his dark eyes connected with mine again, I could tell he was furious. "This isn't over."

"Whatever. I have an FTA to worry about, and that takes precedence over my personal life." Moving past him, I wanted to just walk away and leave things where they were for the time being, but I couldn't. "And as for this not being over?" I said quietly. "_It almost is_."

Ranger stood there like a stone statue for a few minutes. I didn't look at him again, nor did I say anything else as I waved the boys out to join us.


	21. Chapter 21

_**I own nothing, JE's characters are her own ~ Maia**_

The sky looked ominous and ready to open up at any minute. Sean pulled the Tahoe into the marina and shut off the engine.

I'd been through my fair share of storms, but this one looked like it might take the cake. Nothing was moving, unless the wind pushed it. The boats moored nearby were rocked back and forth violently as wave after wave crashed into shore, whitecaps viciously rolling in one on top of the other.

Climbing out of the truck I pulled up the zipper on my jacket and scanned the boats skirting the quarter-mile long pier in front of us. T2 came up to stand next to me, a deep frown etched into his features. "We might want to move quickly."

"Yeah," I replied then started down the pier.

With no one around it was easy to board boats and poke around. Most we're locked up tight, few were open and easy to search. Not one of them had what we were looking for. No drugs, no guns, no Bucky.

Climbing off of the last boat with Tank, I shook my head. "He's not here," with hands on my hips I sighed heavily. "_Damnit! _Another dead end."

"He'd be a fool to stay on a boat right now anyway." Sean said with a nod towards the clouds. "Half this shit's gonna end up on land."

"Could blow through without incident," T2 replied.

"Doubtful." I said looking back towards the horizon. Whatever was taking shape out there was big and had the potential to stall our search. "I need to know when the storms going to make landfall." I turned to Sean. "Call Kathleen."

"On it," Sean said pulling out his phone.

"Get her to find us a place to stay tonight too."

"And see if she's got that list of storage companies yet. We can at least check on a few before we hunker down to wait this out." Sean nodded once and wandered off.

"I can dig around here for a while. See if anyone's up to sharing for some loose change." I glanced over and nodded at Tank.

"You do that." And he left.

"Uhm," T2 fumbled. "I'm going to call Curtis." He disappeared with the others, leaving myself and Ranger alone.

When I turned to him he was watching the horizon closely. Sensing my scrutiny he turned his head my way, but said nothing. I couldn't see his eyes behind his dark sunglasses, and that was probably a good thing. I knew he was furious with me, could feel his anger rolling off of him in tightly wound waves.

"Are you riding with me?"

"What's the alternative?" The wind whipped up then causing us to turn inward. It had a severe bite to it, one that cut right through my jacket and chilled my skin.

After it'd died down a bit I turned back to Ranger. "Whatever you want, there are countless options." I gestured towards the boys working. He didn't look like he wanted to work though and I was in no mood for his drama. "Why don't you see if you can connect with your contact in Washington."

"If that's what you need."

"Couldn't hurt," he nodded once and I stuffed my hands into my pockets, my eyes never leaving his. "Look, I know you're angry –"

"Nope, not angry." I rolled my eyes and looked away.

"Well, good… because I don't want to do this with you right now."

"Agreed," and with that he walked away.

There were two things I was absolutely sure of at this point. Number one? There was a huge storm rolling in, one that was going to lock us up for days together, issues and all. And two, Ranger's Cuban temper was going to flatten my existence more than the storm.

Shaking it off for the time being, I noticed someone boarding up windows down the docks a bit and headed in that general direction.

The sign over the restaurant read _Chowder Shack_. The man working the nail gun and plywood looked gnarly and weather beaten. He had a bushy white beard and was covered from head to toe in a yellow rubber-ducky colored rain suit. His appearance brought up images of a recent fish stick commercial I'd seen, made me grin.

"Excuse me," I called out as I approached. He didn't turn my way or acknowledge me right off. Instead he shot four more nails into the plywood he was holding up, the sound ear piercing.

"Somethin' I can do fer ya?" He asked, moving towards another window.

"I'm wondering if you've seen this man before," I pulled out a picture of Bucky. He stopped moving and turned towards me. I could tell right off he didn't want to be bothered.

"Nope," he said dismissing me, not once looking at the photo. I watched him turn back towards the plywood and frowned.

"Need some help?" He laughed.

"I've got it."

"I'm not going anywhere. Maybe you could take a second look at the photo if I helped you with some of these windows." He picked up a piece of plywood, banged it against the ground forcefully then leaned it against the building.

"Lady, I don't' know what you and yer boys are doin' down here, and I don't wanna know. If you haven't noticed there's a storm movin' inland. Yer gonna wanna get outta my way." He reached for the plywood again, this time a little too quickly. Cursing a wicked blue streak, he jumped back after a piece broke off, jabbing him in the hand. Surveying the blood trickling out of the wound, I moved in to help.

"Let me take a look at it." I said reaching for his hand.

"I don't need no bossy woman tending to me! Go and find yerself someone else to bother." He yelled.

Catching his wrist, I looked him in the eye. "You look at this photo a little more seriously," I said flipping his hand over. "And I'll think about moving on." His blue eyes narrowed as they met mine, and sensing that I wasn't the type to back down easily, he finally relented.

"Oh, gimme the damn thing," he said producing a handkerchief and wrapping his hand.

"Don't bleed on it, it's my only one." The guy looked at me, cocked his head to the side and laughed. "What?"

"Feisty lil' thing aren't ya?" I shrugged. "I like em feisty." He smelled like fish and had really dirty fingernails. I hated to think of all the fishy germs he had going on under those cuticles.

Handing him the photo, I swallowed hard. "Sir, while the whole _Gorton's Fisherman_ thing might do it for some of the ladies you usually hang around with, let me reassure you it does nothing for me." He laughed again, this time a deep belly laugh. I smiled.

"I think you're a lil' too young for me anyway," and he winked, turning his attention to Bucky's photo. "Who's this ugly lookin' dude?"

"His name is Buck Wellsley."

"Mine's John, in case ya wanted to know."

"Rachel." I said with a nod. I wasn't offering him a hand to shake. Not if I was gonna smell like the daily catch afterwards. "So, have you ever seen him around here?"

"Lots of ugly dudes floatin' in and outta here. This place be loser central, and that's on a good day." I nodded. "Whatcha wanting him for?"

"I'm bond enforcement up in Dallas, he's my FTA."

"FTA?"

"Failure to appear." He stared at me blankly.

"Appear where?" _C'mon, he wasn't that stupid_. "In court or somethin'?"

"Yeah, in court or something, John. If I bond you out and you don't show up for your court date, I'm gonna come looking for you."

"Huh. Nope. Never seen him." He handed me back the photo.

"Hear anything about drugs and guns moving in and out of the pier?"

He laughed. "Always," turning back to the plywood he started to lift it, but with his hand cut it was awkward so I stepped in. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said with a smile.

"Your FTA one of them druggies?"

"You could say that. He's gotten himself into a whole lot of trouble recently. More than he can handle." John nodded and nailed the right-side of the plywood in place. "You know of anybody I could talk to about this?" He moved behind me, went to the other side of the window and shot in two more nails.

"Nope. I offered to look at yer photo. Other than that, I'm not getting involved." I stepped away so he could finish with the window.

"Fair enough," I replied with a nod. "Take my card though, will you? In case Wellsley just happens to pop in for a bowl of chowder or something." He turned to me, stared a moment then held out a hand.

"_You_ stop in for a bowl of chowder sometime." I grinned then turned to walk away. "Better get yerself inside soon! This storm'll be bigger than it appears."

Leaving him to his plywood and windows, I started back for the Tahoe.

John hadn't said it in so many words, but I was pretty sure we were in the right place. Even if Bucky wasn't in the nearby area, I knew there were drugs going in and out of the pier and that had to help someone.

Reaching the SUV, Sean stepped forward and handed me a piece of paper. On it was a list of storage companies and their addresses. "That's everything close by according to Kathleen. She's gonna get back to me about lodging." I nodded.

"Chowder Shack owner hasn't seen Bucky and he's not talking when it comes to any drug movement in the area."

"That's always a plus." Sean looked over at the Chowder Shack. John was watching us closely.

"Means we're in the right place," I replied, shrugging.

T2 had been sitting in the Tahoe talking on his cell. When he'd finished he climbed out and walked over to us. "Just got off the phone with Curtis."

I smiled and feigned delight. "And how is our friend Curtis?" T2 laughed.

"Said to send you his best."

"Ugh."

T2 laughed. "Other than that, he's got nothing but said he'd ask around." My smile, and mood, fell. One after another our leads were turning into dead ends. This was embarrassing. I'd given the boys thirty-six hours to find a lead on Bucky and I hadn't even done that myself.

_Tick-tock, Rachel. You're running out of time_!

When Ranger and Tank joined us again they had nothing to report. People were either scared to death of the repercussions of talking or didn't know a thing. Either way we weren't getting anywhere.

Standing on the dock a little while later, I stared off into the dark clouds. My mood was plummeting, despair checking in. I'd never in all the time I'd been in the bond business, wanted to find someone as badly as I did Bucky at the moment. There was so much hinging on locating him and all of his loot. Mostly my professional reputation, but also my emotional stability.

Sensing I wasn't alone, I glanced over my shoulder and found Ranger standing there watching me. "Boys ready to go?"

"Just about." I frowned. "Kathleen's got us booked down the road."

"Great." There was a clap of thunder up above and I looked up. It was starting to mist. _Perfect_. "We're running out of time." He said nothing so I turned to him, pissed off. "I don't understand why you're staying. This is a waste of time of your time, and on more than one level."

"Cut the bullshit, Rachel." He shot back, his carefully reined in temper spilling forth.

Shaking my head I started past him. "Whatever. Do whatever you want."

He caught me by the front of my jacket and yanked my body against his. "You're gonna want to be real careful with what you say to me right now." Glaring up at him, I pushed out my chin. His smile turned unfriendly. "You're good, but you're not that good. I can see right through you, sweetheart."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Silence. "Let me go."

"_Let you go_?" He laughed, the sound threatening. "Not on your life." He said with a sneer. I opened my mouth to say something, but never got the chance. He started squeezing the hand holding my jacket tighter, inching my body closer to his. "No, it's my turn to talk, and you're damn well gonna listen."

"Or what?"

He shook his head at me. "I'd love to wring your pretty little neck right now, you know that? You think you can just dismiss me, _ignore me_ like I mean nothing to you?" He shook his head. "Lady, you're out of your mind. And as for your ultimatum? They don't sit well with me, Rachel. I don't respond nicely to being told what to do."

"It's your life. I'm not _telling_ you what to do. I've just given you a choice."

"One that requires me to turn my back on one person to keep another."

My eyes filled with fire. "You want two women in your life? Fine. Don't look to me to be one of the participants though. I don't play that way, nor do I _share_ well."

"No one's asking you to." He replied. "You're assuming that my relationship with Stephanie is still romantic when its not."

"Why should I believe you?"

His hold on my jacket loosened a bit, the tension in his jaw easing. "You're just going to have to trust me." I closed my eyes and felt my resolve melt a bit. "Do you honestly think I could ever love anyone as much as I love you?"

"I don't know." I replied, my voice very quiet.

"Rachel," he said softly, his free hand coming up to cradle my face.

"I've never felt like this before." I told him, my eyes filling with tears. I was gonna lose it right then and there, and I didn't want to. It wasn't the time or the place, but I was so damn tired. My professional and personal ego kept taking hit after hit and I felt like I was going out of my mind.

Letting go of my jacket, Ranger pulled me into his arms. "You're starting to scare me." He brushed his lips against my forehead, wrapped me tighter in his embrace.

"I feel like there's so much to lose right now and I don't know what direction to take."

The storm brewed on out in the distance, moving in closer by the minute. Water kicked up from the ocean, soaking my face, along with my tears. All around us there was chaos, but within my husband's strong arms, I felt immune to it all. Protected.

When my tears had finally subsided, I looked up at Ranger and his eyes met mine, held momentarily. He was so handsome, gorgeous even. He had this primal feel about him, one that could curl a woman's toes inward. I felt fortunate to have him in my life in any capacity, even with all of our bullshit.

Smiling at him, I realized I was finally emotionally spent beyond words. My fight gone for the moment. And in his eyes, I saw nothing of the street Ranger one would normally expect. Instead staring back at me was the man I had married. He was incredibly grief stricken and probably just as fed up over the situation as I was. I had to give him credit though. After being emotionally tested, day after day and way beyond his capacity, he was holding his own pretty good.

Swiping away my tears, his brown eyes scanned mine. "We good now?" He asked.

"Yes... No… I think so." He smiled.

"And the ultimatum?" I looked down. I wasn't ready to put it away. Things needed to change when it came to Stephanie, but I wasn't the one who could change them. I couldn't force Ranger to stop being her friend. I could only draw lines in my own relationship with him.

"I'll put it away for now, but understand this," I said meeting his gaze dead on. "I meant everything I said to you. There's only so much I'm gonna take. You're going to make some decisions, possibly some changes where she's concerned. I won't take second seat to her."

"I'd never ask you to." I lifted a shoulder and let it drop.

We'd see…


	22. Chapter 22

_**JE owns her characters! I just love playing with them, especially the guy ones… (wink) ~ Maia**_

As I walked out of the last storage company I rested my hands on my hips and cursed a vicious streak. I knew I was using words a lady should never use, probably some I had made up, but I didn't care. Not until I heard a chuckle from behind me.

Turning towards Ranger I narrowed my gaze. "I'm glad you think this is funny." His smile quickly vanished and he cocked a seriously sexy eyebrow.

"I'm not laughing," he said with a shake of his head.

"Uh-huh."

"I've just never heard you use such colorful language before." I climbed into the Tahoe and slammed the door. Ranger followed, "I think maybe you should start hanging out with women a little bit more."

"Why, because you think women don't cuss? Have you heard the things that come out of Kathleen's mouth?"

He started the truck. "I rest my case. You could both use a few more female friends," he said backing the SUV out of its space and continuing on. "Maybe a trip to a spa or something," he shrugged, thinking out loud.

I looked over at him, mouth agape. _A Spa?_

Ranger shifted his eyes my way again, and seeing the look on my face, grinned. "You know, you could get your nails done, see a massage therapist, work out some of those," he wiggled his fingers in the air. "Kinks."

"Kinks."

"Yeah, order yourself up some girly time."

"Girly time." I scratched my head. "And you think a spa is going to help me with all this?"

"Isn't that what women do when they're feeling stressed out?"

"And you think I'm like normal women?" He laughed.

"No. No, you're not."

"But, a spa will help me deal with this… situation."

"Not necessarily the situation, but maybe your attitude though." I turned away from him, grinned. He was just going to keep turning that knife.

"Actually, sex tends to work out my… kinks."

"Sex…" he trailed off. "Right, I don't think they do that at spas though." I reached over and slugged him, Ranger laughed. "C'mon, baby. Don't you want some of those sparkly things on your fingernails, maybe a fake heart tattoo on your butt?"

"I'm gonna tattoo you in a second." He grinned widely and I couldn't help returning the smile. "There ya go." He reached over and patted my knee. If he hadn't been so cute about the whole thing I probably would've shot him.

Instead, I gave in. "Okay, okay… so I'm letting this all get to me a bit." His chocolate brown eyes swung my way. 'A bit' might be stretching it. "Wouldn't you though?" He shrugged. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You're the _sensible_ one."

"Sweetheart, there's not an ounce of sensible on me." That much I knew. I'd seen that body in action and loved Ranger's insensible side. "But, I do think you need a break."

"That's a given." I felt like I was chasing my tail and I hated chasing my tail. I much more preferred to have my tail chased, especially when it was by the gorgeous hunk of manhood sitting next to me. "Do you think he'll contact Peck again?"

Pulling the Tahoe out into traffic Ranger shrugged his shoulders. "Might," I groaned and smacked my head back against the headrest a couple times in frustration. "Yeah, keep doing that. It's really gonna help your headache."

"How did you know I have a headache?"

"Rachel." He replied in that special Ranger way. Yeah, he would know. "I think you should eat something." I closed my eyes, raked my fingers through my hair. He was starting to sound like a broken record. "You didn't even eat this morning, and I really think –"

"Don't start." I waved a finger in his face.

"Rachel, you can't run for days on an empty tank. It's not healthy."

"I'm _fine_." He turned to watch the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. I remembered his comment earlier about wanting to wring my neck and cringed.

"You're going to give yourself an ulcer." I smiled at his tone. He was one to talk. I couldn't believe how annoyed, no - ticked off, he was at me and all because I wouldn't eat! One of these days he was going to realize that the more he pushed, the more stubborn I became.

"I thought you liked my svelte body?"

"Baby, I love your body, I can't get enough of it. I love the feel of it underneath my hands, every inch of it when we're naked and aching," _Ohhh my_. "I'd also like to _keep_ that pretty little body around for a while. That way I can enjoy it while you're still _breathing_." I giggled and he turned my way. "You think this is funny?"

"Actually, I do." His hands gripped the steering wheel again and I swallowed hard. He was so cute when he was mad, adorable even.

See, Ranger has many different versions of 'mad'. Mostly people only witness the top two; the lethal deadly kind of mad, the one where you quite honestly, don't have a chance. Then there's his annoyed mad. This one you usually get when he's at a loss with you and fed up, the result being that he walks away.

Then there's the one I'm getting right now. It's usually the mad he shows loved ones, and more fueled by worry than anger.

See, Ranger's a huge pushover when it comes to the people he cares about. If you've got a star next to your name in his book, he'll do just about everything and anything to keep you safe and happy. He'll deny it, but Ranger does have some soft spots, and usually his softest spots are held by the people he can't control. Myself being one of them.

I could just imagine him someday if we had children. He was going to go out of his mind, and probably over the little things.

Turning to him, I smiled. "Ranger, do you ever want to have more children?" The truck jerked on the road, fishtailed in a puddle as he fought for control. "Are you trying to kill us?" I cried, hanging onto the passenger door with both hands.

"I could ask you the same thing!" He exclaimed once the truck was back under control. Staring at him, I noticed that Ranger's eyes had gotten as big as saucers. He looked much like a doe would when it was caught in headlights. Not a very Ranger-like look.

I laughed. "I guess that's a no?" He was genuinely dumbfounded when he looked at me again. "I mean, because we've never talked about it."

"Uhm, nope. That's one conversation we've _never_ had." I smiled as he focused his attentions on the road, not saying another word. Still feeling my gaze a few moments later, he looked over at me then back at the road. "What?" He was nervous.

"Scares the shit out of you, doesn't it?"

"Please. I have Julie." _Uh-huh_.

"Yeah, but you're not really raising Julie." I pointed out.

"So?"

"So, with me you'd _want_ to be a hands-on father." Ranger inhaled deeply, apparently struck mute for the moment. I watched him roll down his window and blink twice hard, exhaling slowly. If I hadn't known better, I would've sworn he'd broken out in a sweat.

"I'm a hands-on father with Julie." He finally said after a few moments. "I try to talk to her every other day."

"That's not the same as being there everyday though, and you know that. I'm sure she misses you, and I know you miss her."

He let my words roll around in his head, "I do." He reached over and took my hand.

"And you don't want more." I stated more than questioned.

"Honestly, I hadn't really given it much thought." He replied. "The only woman I'd _want_ to have children with is you, and we haven't exactly been the baby making kind of couple lately."

"We've been practicing an awful lot."

"Rachel." I smiled at the expression on his face. "Do you want to have children?" He asked.

"Maybe," I looked out the window. "Possibly… I mean, yes." He smiled, understanding my discomfort. "It's not like we're getting any younger."

"Are you calling me old?" he shot back.

"Honey, you're in no way old. You're ripe for the picking." I hadn't thought it was possible, but his smile widened. "What I mean to say is, there are only so many baby-making years left for me."

"And?"

"And… I don't know." I replied, sort of frustrated. "I just wanted your thoughts on the whole thing, that's all."

"Do you want me to get you pregnant?"

"Well, that's a bit forward."

"Rachel…" He said laughing and shaking his head. "I'll give you whatever you want."

"I want you to want it, too."

"Who says I don't?" We were both quiet a few minutes.

"You're not saying you do, actually." I couldn't mask the hurt in my voice, but didn't give him a chance to respond because my cell phone started ringing. Pulling it out of my pocket I answered it quickly, sort of thankful for the distraction. It was Morelli.

"Did you hear?" He asked and I glanced at Ranger.

"No. What?"

"Another child was abducted this morning, her mother shot and killed." I propped my arm on the truck door, dropped my head in my hand.

"Is it related?"

"Pretty sure it is." I sighed heavily. What the hell was going on back in Jersey? "The mom was shot at a local fast food joint. The little girl is four. She was playing in the _Play Place_ when her father came in and abducted her."

"_Oh my god_."

"Yeah," Morelli replied. "Ronald McDonald's not going to be selling very _Happy Meals_ there for a while. It's just as well, the guy kinda freaks me out, you know? I think it's the clown suit. He scares the shit out of me." I knew he sensed my distress and was trying to make light of everything, but it wasn't going to work.

"I don't understand any of this."

"Neither do I," he said quietly. "But, that's not the only reason I called. I spoke with a buddy who works Vice down in Washington."

"And?"

"He's going to ask around on the down-low, but he's not familiar with any stings in the Galveston area."

"Meaning he's not one that would be involved or that the dealings in Galveston aren't official?"

"I'm leaning towards the later."

"Huh. Interesting."

"Uh-huh. I'm sure this isn't surprising news, but… are you sure you're going to be able to handle this? It'd only take one phone call to get you some help."

"No. Ranger and I have handled worse." Morelli was quiet a moment. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"Anything for Ranger's wife," he mumbled woefully and I smiled.

"Is that really why?"

"No, but we'll leave it at that." And he hung up.

I turned to Ranger as I stuffed my phone back in my pocket. "Did Stephanie tell you about the third murder?"

"That's why she called this morning."

"I wish we could go back and help." Ranger shook his head.

"You've got your hands full here. Let Morelli do his job." I sensed a bit of something in his voice and turned in my seat to face Ranger.

"You don't like him very much, do you?"

"I don't have a problem with Morelli. We have an understanding, a working relationship."

"Then what's with the tap dance the two of you do around each other?"

"Usually, Stephanie."

"Ah." That's all he really needed to say, but the _usually_ tripped me up. "Wait, usually?"

He looked over at me and instantly I noticed the jealousy dancing around in his eyes. "I'm not all that crazy about him calling you." _Ohhh_.

"You can't be serious."

"Can't I?"

"You're worried about Morelli?" Silence. "_Ranger,_" I said using a tone he would use with me. "You never cease to amaze me, but you've gotta know that he's probably happy to have me around." Ranger's eyes shot my way heatedly. "With me kicking about you're not vying for Stephanie's attention."

"I've never vied for Stephanie's attentions." He told me. "If I'd really wanted Stephanie I could've had her." This was true. "She belongs with Morelli, just like you belong with me. What Stephanie and I shared was one night of passion and a hell of a lot of flirting. She was fun to play with."

_Uh-huh, right, surrre_… "You're downplaying it for me." He was quiet. "I know you have serious feelings for her."

"As I've said before, compared to what I feel for you, they're nothing." I watched him lift my hand and kiss my fingers softly. He melted my heart.

"Promise me you'll make a baby with me someday." He didn't fishtail this time, nor did he look as shocked. Instead Ranger looked relieved.

"Just tell me when." I smiled then leaned over to brush a kiss across his cheek.

"I love you."

He turned, captured my lips with his own. "I'll keep you barefoot and pregnant for years as long as you keep telling me that."

"Yeah? What else will it get me?" I replied playfully.

He grinned from ear to ear. "Sky's the limit."

"Perfect. You're so easily bought." He just laughed…

_**Chapter 22 and still so much to go! I really hope you're enjoying the story. Rachel's losing hope, but don't you! I think Bucky is going to appear REAL SOON, driving Ranger and Rachel back to Jersey… :o)**_


	23. Chapter 23

_**I own nothing, the characters are JE's. ~ Maia **_

The tropical depression heading in from the Gulf had been kicked up to a tropical storm. Gale force winds were being reported at around fifty miles per hour, and increasing. Forecasters predicted rainfall to be somewhere around five to seven inches and landfall was expected some time around ten o'clock that night. All in all, we were in for a rough evening.

Kathleen found us hotel rooms just off the coast. I would've preferred moving farther inland, but there wasn't time and most of the tourists had already taken up everything. With the storm breathing down our backs and Buck still MIA, we needed to stay where we were.

By the time I dropped my bag on the floor inside of a hotel room I was flippin' pissed. I hated having to slow down for anything, and especially when I was on a manhunt. I had no idea where my FTA was, but I felt it in my bones that he wasn't far. Bucky needed to unload his stash and I was assuming he'd go back to the Cubans to do that. I just needed to find his boat, him or his stash before he could succeed.

Yanking the elastic band out of my hair I groaned with pleasure as I massaged my temples. Maybe Ranger had been onto something when he'd joked about a spa visit. I could use some serious TLC and body massaging. I wasn't gonna get any tattoos on my ass, but a mani-pedi would be nice.

Walking over to the lone couch in the room, I collapsed. "I hate this."

Ranger closed the door quietly, dropped his duffle bag next to mine and turned to me. "I know you do."

"And you know what's making this all worse?" I grumbled and watched as he moved to sit down on the table in front of the couch. "I'm not doing this anymore to save my two hundred thousand dollars. Now I'm doing all of this to keep Bucky alive."

Ranger smiled. "If you'd admitted to going this far for any other reason I wouldn't have believed you." I cut my eyes to Ranger's and his smile widened. "Deep down, you're a good person, Rachel, no matter how tough you pretend to be. That's why you trusted Bucky and bonded him out the way you did."

My frown deepened. "I'm not pretending," he laughed. "I wish I hadn't taken the bond this time, that I didn't know anything about all of this. I wanna walk away."

"But you can't." I groaned and leaned forward, dropping my head into my hands. "Babe, you're close. You know you're close, otherwise you wouldn't be so frustrated."

Dragging my hands down my face I looked up at Ranger. "If he'd call me I could help him."

"I know. His greed is keeping him away though."

Sighing heavily I leaned forward and untied my boots, kicking them off. "We're going to be stuck in this hotel for days."

Ranger glanced towards the window. The wind outside was howling wildly, reminding me of a bad horror movie I'd seen as a kid. Coupled with the pinging sound of the rain and hail, I knew that whatever was coming in wasn't far. "If that's the case," he said turning to look at me again. "There's no one I'd rather be stuck with than you."

"Ha-ha." I replied. "That's sweet, but I'm in a foul mood. You'd probably do better down the hall with the guys." Getting to my feet I took off my jacket and stripped down to my underwear. "I'm going to go and see about a bath."

"You know, once you eat something and relax a bit, you're going to feel a lot better." He called after me.

I turned back to him on my way to the bathroom, my smiled filled with nothing nice. "I wouldn't hold your breath. You know how I am." The roll of his eyes and his expression as I turned away said he did. Poor guy, he'd probably forgotten how ugly PMS can be.

In the end, and though I hated to admit it, Ranger had been right. The instant I sank my butt into the tub, I knew I'd be okay. I'd found some scented lavender salts near the sink and plopped them in, praying for a miracle as I slipped in behind them.

Dropping my head back against the edge of the tub, I closed my eyes and let my mind and body drift. I felt my tensions melt away, the stress from looking for Bucky nothing but a distant memory. I even drifted off for a little while, waking when Ranger knocked on the door and poked his head in.

"Are you a prune yet?" I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and smiled up at him. "Well, that's a bit better." He said moving to the edge of the tub and taking a seat.

He'd changed into a pair of button up jeans and was barefoot and shirt free. He looked unbelievably yummy and I found myself warming in places that the water hadn't touched. I figured thoughts of taking a huge bite out of him might have something to do with it.

"What you got there?" I asked noticing a wine bottle and two glasses dangling from the fingers in his right hand.

"I called room service. This is the appetizer." My smile was lazy and sexy when I flashed it at him.

"If that bottle of wine is the appetizer, what's for dinner?" Now it was his turn to smile. "I think you want me just for my body."

"That's a start." He said leaning over to kiss me.

"_Mmm_... you taste good." I ran my wet hands over his chest, down his six-pack abs and bit my lower lip when I reach his button-fly. "Why don't you take off those pants and climb in here with me?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Me? In a tub?" he chuckled, the idea obviously absurd. "No-no… I don't think so, sweetie."

"Ah, come on. Who's gonna know?"

"I'll know."

"So? Taking a bath with me is _not_ going to emasculate you. Besides, you shower with me all the time and like that. What's the difference?"

"Uhm, we're vertical and there's water coming down from above. I don't emerge myself in warm, scented water." He eyed the bubbles with distaste.

"Forget about the location, bud," I said slipping my warm, wet breasts up above the water, my nipples glistening in the soft light. "Think about the prize." His eyes were fixed on my chest, his mouth slightly agape. I was pretty sure desire was going to win out here. He didn't have a chance when I ran my hand down between my wet breasts, below the water, sighing softly when I reached areas he couldn't see. "I hear water sports are the best." He cursed viciously as he took in my pink, naked form. "I've never made love to you in the tub before."

"We'll make a mess of the floor."

"Oh, god… I hope so." I said raising the stakes a little by sitting up and tucking my legs underneath my bottom. Bubbles slipped down my body, creeping and dipping along crevices I was sure he wanted to touch with his tongue.

Inching my body closer to the tubs edge, I traced a wet finger down his chest, my tongue skirting out and over my lips as I moved my hand lower and lower, resting my fingers on the length of my prize. Ranger dropped the wineglasses and the bottle of wine on the floor, his warm chocolate eyes fixed on my face.

"I hate how you seem so sure that I can't get you out of those pants," he swallowed hard and loudly.

Moving up on my knees I pressed my warm, wet and naked body against his, let my fingers linger on one of his hardened nipples and smiled inwardly when his arms came around me. "Are you sure there isn't anything I can do to change your mind?" I questioned, grabbing a fistful of his hair and pulling him down into a deep, mind-melting kiss that involved lots of tongue, teeth and some heavy panting when we parted

"I think you just did." _Bingo_!

Smiling, I pressed my lips quickly against Ranger's one more time then settled back to watch as he slipped out of his jeans and into the water. After positioning himself behind me, I leaned back against his hard and muscular body, ran my hands up and down his arms when they came around me, holding me close.

"Okay, so this doesn't suck," he whispered as his tongue captured my earlobe, drawing it between his teeth. With my head swimming, I moaned softly, his fingers dancing over my nipples, teasing them into taut nubs.

Slipping my hands under the water I inched my fingers beneath me, found him hard, throbbing and waiting. His lips and tongue became more urgent against my neck and collarbone when I took him in hand.

_This felt good, this felt right. I could stay with Ranger like this forever_.

As my hand started to move in slow and even strokes, Ranger began to lose his control, and returned the favor by kicking things up a notch.

With his mouth heatedly moving over my wet skin, he freed an aching breast and slipped his fingers down between my legs. I jumped at the sudden and intimate contact, his soft touch catching me off guard. Instantly I relaxed in his arms, gave up all control to him. I was lost to the feeling now, riding wave after wave of desire, the pressure building inside of me like a bomb ready to explode. Within minutes I was crying out, losing myself to him and the moment.

He quieted my body gently, but kept it warm at the same time. Feeling his lips at my ear, I shivered, "Turn around," he said, scooping his fingers under my bottom and helping me up. Moving carefully, so as not to get too much water on the floor, I stood up and turned to face him. His hands stilled me before I could sit back down, his sexy smile and hot molten eyes starting my motor and juices flowing again. He didn't say anything before moving in for the kill, just cupped my body, leaned forward and slipped his tongue inside of me.

"_Sweet Jesus_," I cried out, my legs buckling. Ranger held me close and I planted one hand firmly against the wall, the other grasping for the curtain rod. I couldn't feel my legs, everything turned liquid and jelly-like as he tortured me with his wicked tongue.

Sensing my distress, Ranger moved his hands, mouth and body away, lay back to view his prize. "Have you had enough?" I shook my head slowly from side to side and he grinned. This experience was nothing like any other we'd shared together in the past. Pleasing Ranger was all I wanted to do, but felt for some reason that I wasn't allowed to touch him until he said _Go_.

"C'mere," he held out a hand to me and I took it, straddling his body carefully in the warm water. Reaching up, Ranger cradled my face in his hands and he kissed me tenderly, whispering words of love in his native tongue. No matter where he touched me, or what he did to my body, the water heightened the experience. It was like I could feel my every never ending, and they were electrified by his.

With our eyes locked together he slipped inside of me, and everything went fuzzy. Now there was only the movement, our bodies and the need generating and churning under the water spiraling all around us in erotic waves.

I wanted to touch him everywhere, wanted to feel him all over me and in me. My fingers scratched and dug at his skin as I clawed for a control I no longer possessed. I belonged to this man; mind, heart, body and soul. To lose him again would be like losing my heart. I couldn't live without either.

Sensing he was holding on by a thread I pulled Ranger close, cradled his head in my arms, "Let go, baby," I whispered. "Go first this time," and he did, crying out in a way that made it hard to breathe.

I tumbled shortly after, dissolving in his arms. The room spun so I held onto him tightly and tried to control my breathing. Making love with him had left me raw and exposed, so I didn't look into his eyes right away. Being with him right then meant more to me than any of the other times we'd made love. I didn't know why, but I knew I'd always remember this moment, cherish how close we were.

With our bodies calming, Ranger carefully cradled me in his arms, his hands and fingers drifting up and down my back in a sweet caress. The wind howled outside, but in our world all was quiet. I wanted to stay with him like this forever, and knew that I could if I'd just let go.

Lifting my head I touched my lips to Ranger's and he moaned softly. "Now, aren't you glad you joined me?"

"What do you think?" He said smiling lazily then looked down at the water. "Surprisingly, this feels pretty good." My eyes widened. "And if you tell anyone I said that I'll pop you one."

I started to laugh. "Who am I going to tell?" I said snuggling into him, resting my head against his chest. His arms came around me and I closed my eyes. "Besides, if I tell anyone you won't do this with me again."

He laughed, the sound deep, throaty and sexy. "I don't know about that." He replied swirling the water with his fingers. "I'll do just about anything to be close to you."

My eyes met his, "Ditto."

A few minutes later we got out of the tub. The water had begun to chill and I was definitely showing signs of pruning. As I slipped into one of the hotel robes, there was a knock at the door. I peeked out from the bathroom at Ranger. "Are we expecting someone?" Donned in only a towel, Ranger went and answered it.

"Wow," I said coming out of the bathroom as one of the hotel staff - a woman - wheeled in a cart covered dishes. "Perfect timing," Ranger said nothing in response, his smile enough.

Handing the woman some cash, he thanked her and watched as she headed for the door. The poor woman tripped once on the carpet, almost falling flat on her face in front of him. If she'd been watching where she was going and not drooling over Ranger's scantily clad body, she probably would've made it. He'd caught her before she could hit the floor though and righted her, helping her the rest of the way.

After she left Ranger gave me a funny look. "I have a very strange effect on women." I chuckled as I moved to the table, lifted one of the lids. "Why don't you look at me like that?"

Popping a piece of broccoli in my mouth I grinned. "I do when your back is turned." Shaking his head he started taking the lids off all of the dishes. He'd ordered everything under the sun. "Oh my… who's going to eat all of this?"

"Did I do too much?"

"Uh, _yeah_," I said using an _as-if_ tone. He just shrugged and pulled the cart over to the table in the corner. Holding out a hand to me he pulled me onto his lap and busied himself with what was before us.

"I don't care what we waste, as long as you eat." The building creaked then under the high winds and we both looked up.

"My last meal?" I questioned. The storm was really starting to kick up.

"I hope not." Remembering the bottle of wine on the bathroom floor I jumped up and ran to get it. When I returned Ranger had lit the lone candle on the table and had started setting out place settings and food.

Smiling at him wickedly I walked up and slipped back onto his lap. "First the bath, now culinary duty, what's next, handsome?"

"I could toss you over my shoulder like a caveman and make you eat in bed."

"Be still my beating heart." He grinned widely and poured us some wine. "Hey, where's dessert?" I said eyeing the spread.

Ranger reached around and slipped his hand inside my robe. "You're sitting on it."

"You're not as sweet as a piece of cake."

"Wanna make a bet?" I giggled softly when he leaned in and nibbled on my shoulder. "Just so you know, I'm pretty happy we're locked up in here together." He pointed at my plate and I moved away to sit down in the other chair.

"You would be." I replied and I reached for my wine. "And under different circumstances I probably would be, too. It's just…"

"I know, I know." He said choosing a piece of chicken and some steamed vegetables. "I'm sure something will happen soon."

I leaned both elbows on the table and looked over at him through the candlelight. "You can feel it too, can't you?"

He took a bite of chicken. "I don't have that voodoo radar that you do, but I know Bucky's not smart enough to orchestrate all of this alone, and I'm sure whoever he's dealing with is just as anxious as we are to find him. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest to find out he's got a partner."

I pulled my feet up underneath me, nibbled on a piece of bread. "It's not Peck."

"Agreed."

"Who else?"

"Anyone put up collateral for his bond?" My eyes met Ranger's and I thought a moment. "What?"

"His ex-wife," Ranger shook his head.

"Doubtful." He said turning back to his food.

"Why?"

"I don't think an ex is going to fork up big bucks like that for someone like Buck Wellsley."

"Maybe she would if she thought there'd be a bigger payback in the end."

Ranger sipped his wine, thought a moment. "Do you know who the ex is?"

I threw my bread at him. He caught it mid-air and stuffed it in his mouth. "Of course I do."

"Call her," he said with a shrug as he shoveled.

"After." He nodded and glanced at my plate.

"I'm watching. Eat." He said pointing a fork at my food.

"I am, I am," I picked up my fork and cut off a bite of chicken. "I still can't get passed the Fed angle though."

"Didn't you call in a favor to someone?"

I lifted a shoulder and let it drop. "I called someone." I replied lightly, attempting to leave it at that. Ranger could smell when I was hiding something and would have none of it.

Taking a huge drink of wine, he eyed me carefully. "Want to enlighten me some?"

"Are you gonna grab your gun and go off half-cocked?" He put his fork down on the table and stared at me. There was something tripping around the edges of his eyes, and when Ranger's fists clenched on the white linen, I knew I was in trouble.

"Spill it." He ordered.

"Not unless you promise me –"

"Rachel." He drew my name out slowly and with quite a bit of impatience.

Here's my situation. I could lie and tell Ranger it was no one he knew, but doing that didn't feel right. I'd never lied to Ranger before so why start now, right? The problem was that if we ever made it back to Jersey, Morelli was going to have a lot to answer to my husband for. First being that he'd been the only one I'd called when in need and second being that his phone number was speed dialed into my cell. Morelli might share his girlfriend with Ranger, but Ranger most certainly not about to share his wife.

Sitting up in my chair, I eyed Ranger carefully. "If I tell you…"

"If?"

"Would you _stop_?" He put both hands on the table and moved it aside. Once it was well out of the way, Ranger grabbed the seat of my chair and pulled me and it across the floor until I was sitting right in front of him.

"The longer you stay silent and play games with me, the more painful it's going to be for your friend."

"You're so possessive."

The accusation bounced off of him and dissipated into the air. "Your point?"

"I can have friends, too."

"Not when they make you look as guilty as you do right now."

I frowned. "I haven't done anything." I hated that those four words came out sounding like a whine.

He smiled devilishly at me. "You'd better hope not."

"You don't scare me." He said nothing, but his dark eyes turned black as night. It was then that I knew I was way in over my head, and that Ranger probably already knew who this person was. He just wanted to hear it from me, needed to know that I'd tell him. "It was Morelli." I finally replied.

"And?"

"And nothing! I called him and he's got some people poking around in Washington."

"And?"

"And _what_, Ranger? What are you looking for?"

"I'm looking for a why." I looked down, played with the sash on my robe. "Why did you call Morelli?"

"He's a cop and he's a nice guy." Ranger stared at me a moment then leaned back in his chair.

"This is the most fucked up situation."

"Tell me about it." I crossed my arms over my chest with a contemplative pout.

"Did you call him to spite me?" My eyes met his quickly.

"Why would I do that?" I shot back and he shrugged. "You think this about Stephanie? That I'm playing a game with Morelli to get back at you?" Silence. "_For the love of god_! I called him because he's a cop, bud. One who works _Vice_."

"A convenient excuse," I closed my eyes and shook my head. After resting my elbows on my knees, I dropped my forehead into my hands. This was stupid. Dumb, crazy and stupid.

Looking up at Ranger, I let the despair I was feeling over the situation show in my eyes. "How are we ever going to move forward if there's no trust?" My question took him by surprise. He'd probably been ready for a fight, to go off half-cocked like accused and throttle Morelli, not at all expecting me to turn this back around on us. "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Ranger."

His expression softened and he closed his eyes momentarily. "Rachel." He breathed.

"I love you, you love me. Why are we so worried about others?"

"I don't know." He replied. "I just know that the idea of you turning to another man rips me in two."

"Now you know how I feel," he grimaced. "I didn't turn to Morelli for anything. I asked him for some help." Moving in closer to Ranger, I touched his face. "You're the one I turn to. Not just for support or to help me chase down some idiotic FTA, but as my husband. You're the one I'm with right now, you're the one drying my tears and," I smiled, "Watching my back. There's no one else I'd rather have by my side than you."

He pulled me out of my chair and into his arms. "You undo me," he whispered into my hair. I smiled and kissed him softly on the lips.

"You're the only one for me. You should know that."

He sighed heavily, pressed his lips against mine again. "I do." He whispered. "I just hope you know the same."

_**Have you ever pictured who'd play Ranger if JE ever made her books into a movie? Who do you think could portray his hunkiness? Lemme know! **_


	24. Chapter 24

_**JE owns her own characters, I own nothing. Enjoy! ~ Maia **_

We were locked up inside that stupid hotel for two days. After the first twenty-four hours my attitude tanked, again. The guys accused me of wearing a path in the carpet with my pacing, but I ignored them. There were only so many games of poker I could play, so many movies I could watch and old tales to reminisce over. I needed to get out and into the world again, start moving before I slowly went mad.

Our cell phones didn't work and neither did the satellite phone. I'd tried getting on the Internet, but the service was out. How the TV still worked was beyond me. It seemed everything had been deadpanned because of the storm. Luckily we still had room service. Apparently a handful of the staff had stayed on to help with the guests.

The men were handling the downtime well, like men usually do. They partied like they were on vacation, acting like teenagers most of the time. Nothing ever really fazed my boys, and after spending forty-eight hours with them, I decided they were the laziest SOB's on the planet.

All except Ranger. He was growing just as anxious as I was over being locked up and stuck inside. It wasn't readily apparent in his behavior, but my patient husband was growing weary, the craziness of the storm getting to us both.

We spent a large portion of our time with the guys, but when we could, we slipped off together to be alone. No one understood me like Ranger did. It was like we were cut from the same mould, wired to respond to the world in almost the same way. The only difference between the two of us would be that I wore my everything on my sleeve, Ranger always had himself in check, never outwardly seeming rattled.

Twice a day we wandered the halls of the hotel, checked in with the front desk and attempted to be carefree. We'd hold hands, steal kisses in darkened corners and gaze out at the storm like a couple of lovers with all the time in the world.

During one of our leisurely strolls I pulled out my cell phone and checked it for what felt like the umpteenth time for service. Like always it was dead.

"Rachel," Ranger said chuckling and taking the phone from me. I watched him tuck it in his pocket.

I frowned at him, "Can't knock a girl for trying."

"Relax. This will all be over soon."

"Better be," I tossed back. "Or I'm going to need a straight jacket pretty quick."

"When did you become so impatient?"

"What? And you're not?"

"We aren't talking about me."

"It's _frustrating_," I said running my fingers through my hair. "Work is all I've had for a very long time. Every minute we sit in this hotel doing nothing is another dollar I'm wasting."

"It's just money."

"Ha!" I said shoving him. "Now I know you're full of shit!" He grinned, guilty as charged. "Aren't you the guy who drives hot cars and preaches how he loves to watch his money _grow_ rather than pay for things conventionally?"

His smile widened. "Conventionalism is overrated."

"Many things are, bud."

"Love isn't." I didn't know what to say to that so I left it alone, curled into him when he reached for me.

"I wonder if Bell is trapped somewhere in all of this." I said looking out the window at the raging storm. I was hoping he was, imagined him floating down stream in a flooded, dirty street, his fat face and white teeth bobbing up and down here and there as it flowed.

"Don't change the subject." I turned and looked up at him. _He was no fun_.

Then I noticed something in Ranger's eyes that started my heart fluttering. He looked uneasy, like he was trying to take the conversation somewhere but didn't know where to start.

Deciding to take a bite and possibly make it easier on him, I stopped and took his hand. "Don't change what subject?"

"Us."

"Were we talking about us?" I asked, tilting my head and pretending to strain my brain. "Because I didn't realize we were talking about us."

"You were talking about Bell. I was trying, _unsuccessfully_, to ease us into a conversation about us." I cocked and eyebrow and eyed him curiously. _This should be good_. "I don't want to talk about business, for let's say, oh…an hour."

"Why?"

"Because I've realized that it's all we ever talk about, that our lives are driven by the job." _Oh, now he was getting scary_.

"Probably because that's the way we like it –"

"No... no-no," He said simply. "Just because we're doing it doesn't mean we have to like it." Was he _trying_ to confuse me?

"Are you trying to tell me you don't like your job?"

"Hell, no," he chuckled. "It's who I am, what I do. But," and he trailed off a minute. "There's more to me than just the job."

"I know that," I replied. "Funny, though. All this time we've known each other all we've every talked about is work."

"I know," he said sighing heavily. Then taking my hands in his, he stared at them, obviously struggling for words. "For the last ten years there have always been two constants in my life, RangeMan and you. And because we haven't been together for a good portion of them, I've filled all my time up with work."

"Same here."

"I don't want to do that anymore, Rachel." He said shaking his head. "I want us to focus more on us and less on work when we're alone. We didn't pay close enough attention before and we fell apart. I don't want to go through that again." I opened my mouth to say something then closed it. I could've tossed out a half dozen reasons why things had fallen apart the way they did, but none of them really mattered. Ranger was right. We'd been driven by work for a very long time, and our relationship had suffered tremendously for it.

"Baby, I love you. I've never loved anyone the way I love you. And I know I've apologized a hundred different ways for betraying you the way I did, but I want to tell you again that I'm sorry –"

"Don't." I said shaking my head and backing away. This wasn't going where I thought it was.

"No, you need to let me say this," he said reaching for me. I pushed him away and he became frustrated, desperate even, for me to listen. "I need you. I know that I've said that to you before, but I've never really expressed to you how much you mean to me." Emotions started flooding my body and visions popped up inside of my head, flashbacks from the past, pictures taking me places neither one of us wanted me to go.

Turning away from him I went to the window and placed both hands on the sill, bracing myself. "Don't go there. Don't break down that wall," I warned. He was treading on thin ice.

"Why?"

"_Because I'm not ready,_" I replied, a little more firmly than intended. I felt him approach me then, knew he wanted to touch me and take me in his arms, but held back.

"How can we ever really move past all that if we don't talk about it?"

"I've been back there," I shot back heatedly. "Way more times than I care to remember." I looked out the window, my eyes filling with tears. Why did he have to drag all of this up now? Just when I thought we were starting to move on, he wanted to take a trip down memory lane. And trust me, it wasn't going to be a nice trip!

I turned towards him, my eyes glistening with tears. "You know how I am."

"I do."

"And it wouldn't be in your best interests to force me."

He sighed heavily and looked away. "I'm not trying to," he replied quietly.

God, it broke my heart to look into his eyes. Ranger looked so guilt ridden and miserable, and knowing that he carried around all that blame filled me with an immense amount of remorse.

Unfortunately I couldn't talk about it. Moving forward, I could do. Going back to rehash it all? Uh-uh. Not happening. To do that meant pulling up all that I'd shoved down, and no matter how strong my husband was I wasn't sure he could handle what might leak out.

But, I knew I needed to give him something. "Look," I said quietly and moved into his arms. Everything we were feeling was right on the surface, so I knew I needed to tread carefully. "We need to take baby steps," I told him. "You want to talk about cutting back on work, I'm all ears. You think reprioritizing our lives is going to help our relationship, okay, but –"

"I want to spend more time with you."

"Okay," I replied. "Okay. That's a start." He looked away, disappointment filling his features. "I'm not perfect, bud, and damn sure never will be."

"Neither am I."

I smiled, needing to say something to him to make him understand everything without saying too much. "Ranger… I put you on a pedestal… _and you fell off_."

He closed his eyes. _There it was. I'd said it. The unspoken truth he'd been waiting for._

"Is this fixable?" He finally questioned, the agony in his brown gaze hurdling my emotions somewhere I wasn't familiar with, leaving me confused with what to say or do.

Extending an olive branch, I smiled. "Time will tell," it wasn't enough. I could tell it wasn't enough. "We're off to a good start though," I pleaded, hoping he'd understand.

Ranger inhaled deeply, looked away for a moment then fixed his eyes on me again. He wasn't happy, was never happy unless he was in control and things were progressing in a way that he could understand.

What he _needed_ to understand though was that once you'd broken something, you could put it back together, glue piece by piece back into place with as many promises, and with as much love as you'd like, but in the end it would never be the same.

Talking about the past was not going to erase Ranger's infidelities. I knew he was wishing for a Mulligan, but I couldn't give him that. No one could. I could however, turn the page and try to forget all the scary parts at the beginning of our story together. It wasn't a guarantee, but I'd already told him that I'd forgiven him. What he needed to let me do was forget. At least for a little while longer, and until I was stronger.

Cradling my face in his hands, Ranger pressed a kiss to my forehead and wrapped his arms around me. We said nothing for the longest time, but I knew my calm, cool and collected husband was suffering inside from a madness he'd never felt before.

"When this is over with I'm taking you on a date." His sudden declaration had me laughing.

"A date?" He nodded, clearly amused with my reaction. "Like on a… date-date?"

"Yes, on a date-date." He said simply. "Dinner, dancing…"

"_Whoa_, cowboy. Dancing? You can dance?"

"_Puh-leeze_," he mocked, clearly insulted that I felt the need to ask. "Don't you?"

"Yeah… in front of the mirror, in my underwear and with a hairbrush."

He laughed. "I'd pay to see that."

"But, c'mon… you? Dance?" His smiled dropped. "You're serious!"

"Yes, I am," he replied curtly and I was dumbstruck. "Would you please try not to look so amazed?"

"I'm sorry," but I was… really, _really_ amazed. "Are you any good?" I asked wrinkling up my nose at him. Ranger rolled his eyes and started to walk away. "_Dayum,_ bud… I'm thinking there's a lot about you that I still don't know!"

He was quiet as he walked and I trailed behind, grinning. "I feel the same about you at times."

My smile dropped and I reached out, stopping him. "Like…?"

"You amaze me daily. I couldn't mention just one thing."

"I feel like I'm an open book," I said as we started to walk again and rounded the corner to our room. "Like I wear my heart on my sleeve."

"You don't."

I glanced up at him and figured if anyone should know it'd be him. "Well, you sure don't either."

"I guess that's something I'll need to work on then. At least with you," I smiled.

"Just me?"

He tossed me half a smile when we reached the room, "Lady, I can't show everyone my cards, I'd lose my edge." He pulled the keycard from his pocket and opened the door.

"Oh, and we can't have that now, can we?" Tossing me a look, he shoved me into the room, laughing. Heading for the bathroom I paused when I realized the light was blinking on the hotel phone. "We have a voicemail."

"The boys probably wanted something from the vending machines," he said tossing the keycard on the table and crossing to the phone.

"Well they're SOL. The lazy bastards will just have to go and get it themselves." Ranger picked up the phone and I continued on to the bathroom. I was just finishing up and washing my hands when he appeared in the doorway, the look on his face hard and cold. "What?" I asked drying my hands.

"That was Kathleen." My mouth dropped open.

"She got through?" I said tossing the hand towel onto the sink.

"Buck's been spotted in Lumberton."

"_What_?" He looked down. "No way! How the could he be there?_Who the hell saw him_?"

"Bell." I cursed violently and pushed past Ranger, heading for the phone. "He's got a full manhunt assembling in the morning." I shook my head and started to see red.

"The fuck he does." I said dialing Kathleen. The phone just rang. "How could I have been so fucking wrong?" I cried running my fingers through my hair then jumped to attention when Kathleen answered. "Talk to me."

"Bell saw him, or one of his men did anyway."

"How can that be?"

"I don't think he's been there long. I think the storm scared him back home towards and friendly shelter."

"Peck."

"That's what I'm thinking." She replied.

"Did you call him?"

"Tried, there was no answer." I shook my head and turned towards Ranger. He was packing our things. "What do you want me to do? Pull men and send them down there?"

"No. We're leaving."

"Rachel, is that safe?"

"Safe or no safe, Bucky's my man and I'm gonna bring him in. _Unharmed_."

Kathleen sighed softly. "Whatever you say, sugar," and she hung up the phone.


	25. Chapter 25

_**JE owns her characters, I'm just playing with them! ~ Maia **_

We were driving into a storm we'd technically just ridden out. It sucked being on the road with the pounding rain and howling wind, but I saw no other alternative. A couple hours to the north was _my_ FTA, not Bell's. No storm was going to keep me from bringing him in. I didn't care what I had to do at this point to get to Bucky. I was doing it.

I felt like a king-sized fool for traveling south with the boys. Mentally I berated myself for being so stupid, for leaving the hunt club when it turned out Buck was really there. It also burned my ass that Bell was still in the area and flaunting a Buck sighting. He was the last person I wanted to find my FTA, especially given the crow I was going to have to eat if he got to Bucky first.

I'd wasted money, man-hours and a hefty dollop of my pride on this stupid goose chase, so my mood had tanked considerably. It was probably a good thing I was Ranger's only passenger because if I'd been forced to socialize with the others, things might have gotten ugly.

The weather kept us moving at a slow pace. There were times the wind pushed against the SUV so hard I was sure it was going to roll over. I knew Ranger was nervous, but he stayed focused. He was good for that. Whenever you were in a tight jam he always stayed cool and collected, never breaking stride.

About half way into hour number two he finally broke the silence. "How long are you going to sit there and kick yourself?"

Glancing over at him I frowned, "Until I have no ass left."

"Your hunch was good." I snorted my response. "Chances are Bucky was headed down to Galveston. You know all signs pointed that way anyway."

"Yeah, but he didn't."

"The storm deterred him." I ran both hands over my face and groaned. "Rachel, Bell isn't going to get to him first."

"I don't know that and neither do you." I mumbled looking out the window. "There are so many pieces to this puzzle that aren't fitting into place. I mean, if Buck's been seen in Lumberton, why would Bell allow his men to talk about it?" Ranger was quiet as he drove. "You'd think he'd tell his boys to keep their traps shut. There _is_ three hundred thousand dollars on the line."

"You still don't believe he's there."

"He may very well be, but things just don't add up."

"Could be one of his men saw Buck and said something in mixed company, that's how the word got out." I lifted one shoulder and let it drop. In the side mirror I watched T2 maneuver the other Tahoe through a lake sized puddle. Heaven help my conscience if anything happened to my boys. I'd never be able to forgive myself.

"You'd think Peck would warn Bucky." I said distractedly.

"What, not to go to Galveston?" My eyes met Ranger's. "Ben Peck didn't really look like the sharpest crayon in the box, Rachel."

"He's smart enough to know the world revolves around money, and Bucky's got a lot of it right now."

"Maybe Buck tossed some change Peck's way to steer us south."

"Now _that_ I'd believe, maybe even that Peck got a case of the guilt's."

Ranger shrugged. "Stranger things have happened between friends."

"Yeah," I picked up my cell phone and checked for signal. _Still nothing_. "I wish this stupid thing worked. What's the use in having it in a crisis if you can't get any signal?" Ranger took the phone from me and tossed it into the console. I stared at him a moment all pouty then looked out the window, my wheels spinning. "You know, I think you were onto something with Buck's ex-wife. She might know more than she's letting on."

"Hey, even with us apart I always knew what was going on with you." I flashed Ranger a look. He just _had_ to toss that in my face.

"Who had the last laugh though?"

Ranger rolled his eyes. "I'm sure Buck's wife is a key piece to whatever is going on. A man will do just about anything for the woman he loves."

"Really," I replied, unconvinced. "And you know this because…?" We both knew his track record hadn't been the greatest. It amazed me that he'd make such a garish comment.

"Almost anything," he mumbled, correcting himself.

"Yeah… that sounds better."

It took us almost three and a half hours to get back to Lumberton, and the weather still wasn't the best upon arrival.

Climbing out of the Tahoe, I glanced up at the gray sky and blinked at the light drizzle falling down. When this was all over with I was strongly going to think about taking a vacation. Somewhere warm with white, sandy beaches, beautiful sunsets and bars full of those fruity umbrella drinks.

Sensing Ranger's approach I turned and looked up into his gorgeous smile. I got the feeling he was reading my mind and frowned. "I'm tired of the rain."

"I'll take you away from all this real soon," he said running his knuckles over my cheek gently.

"Some place all I have to wear is a bikini, okay?" Ranger raised an eyebrow. "I'm thinking endless days of sun wouldn't be a bad thing."

"I guessing you in a bikini wouldn't be a bad thing either," he replied and I could sense he was mentally picturing me already there. Punching his arm I turned when the boys approached. "We'll check in with the sheriff first, see what's what then find a place to bed down."

"Food," was T2's only reply. He looked about three refrigerators low of a full stomach.

"Then we find food." He nodded once, satisfied that his needs would be met.

While they set off to find us lodging, Ranger tagged along with me to find the sheriff.

There only two cars in the parking lot at the local PD, most of the lights out. When I stepped through the front door I looked around and realized just how slow small town police work really was.

There were three desks, a water cooler and a dispatch station, the later currently occupied by a short dark haired woman in her late fifties.

Glancing up and over her glasses, her permanent frown deepened. I apparently interrupted something, though I couldn't really tell what. She was eating from a bag of Cheeto's and reading what looked to be a very trashy romance novel. Smiling at her, I leaned against the counter. She didn't smile back.

"May I help you?"

"I'm looking for Sheriff Keith." I replied.

"He aint here." I nodded my head, waited for her to elaborate, but she didn't.

"Got any idea where I could find him?" She pressed her lips together and stared at me.

"That all depends now, don't it?" I waited again for her to elaborate, but nothing.

"On?"

"On who you might be?" She shot back, real nice and friendly. _Not_.

"Rachel Manoso." She stared at me, unfazed. "I was here a few days ago looking for Buck Wellsley."

"Bill Bell's looking for Buck."

I sighed softly and looked down at my hands. Just his name shot my patience all to hell. "I'm aware Bell is still in the area, but Buck Wellsley's my FTA, ma'am."

Her brows knit together for a moment. "He be your FTA?" I nodded my head. "Sheriff mentioned a pretty young thing heading into the hunt club a couple days ago." _Pretty young thing_?

"Uhm, that'd be me. I think," I said quietly then turned when the door opened behind me, Ranger walking in. His eyes met mine, summed up the situation in a nanosecond then looked over at the oh-so-helpful dispatcher.

"Oh boy," she blurted, clearly impressed then got to her feet, rubbing her orange crusty fingers on her shirt. I watched her for a moment, gauged her reaction then looked up at Ranger, cocking an eyebrow. He just lifted a shoulder and let it drop. "And who might _you_ be?" She practically sang, fluffing her hair and batting her eyelashes.

"Ranger," he said extending a hand and she rushed to clasp it in her own.

"Annabelle," she replied with a grin and let her eyes do the walking. "What can I do for _you_?" She asked, completely forgetting that I was in the room.

"Uhm, you've got a little drool on your chin there," I said pointing, she glared at me. "He's with me." I finally told her and wanted to laugh when Ranger had pry his fingers from her hand.

"As in _with you_?"

I flashed her a wicked smile, "_Every_ night."

"_Shoot._" She grumbled, drawing the word out slowly and shaking her head. Ranger tried to hide his smirk by looking down at the floor, but I caught it out of the corner of my eye and kicked him in the shin. His smile vanished and he mouthed the word, '_Ow_.' Flashing him a lethal look, he cleared his throat and adjusted his expression. He could be so infuriating sometimes! "Well, like I said before, the sheriff aint here."

"I'd still like to talk to him."

"Find him down at the diner this time of day. Probably eating dinner before going back out into that hunt club." I glanced at Ranger. "You two married?" She asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between the two of us.

"_Very_ married," Ranger assured her, his smile apologetic.

"Damn." She muttered. "Well, you can't knock a girl for tryin'." She said as her eyes took in Ranger's hot form again, practically undressing him right there. "It aint like there's many fine specimen like you around here to gawk at." Now I was starting to feel uncomfortable, and I could tell Ranger was beginning to squirm in his boots.

"Thanks for your help." I said to Annabelle and we both left the office. Looking up at Ranger, I grinned.

"Don't you say a word," he warned.

"I don't think I've ever seen you so uncomfortable." I teased.

"I feel violated." I laughed.

"Now you know how women feel at times."

"She was undressing me with her eyes!" This time I threw back my head and really laughed. "Shut up! It's not funny." But Ranger couldn't help the smile that crept across his face. "I was nothing but a piece of meat to her."

"A fine _specimen_." He shivered. "You'll think twice before ogling a woman now, won't you?"

"_Hell_ no." I shoved Ranger and this time he laughed.

"I should shoot you." He wrapped an arm around me, grinning from ear to ear. Walking up to the boys we were still chuckling.

"What's the 411?" Sean asked.

"Ranger's a pig."

"Oo-kay. Should I be more specific?"

"Can't get more direct than that," Ranger's grin widened. "Sheriff's probably down at the diner." I announced, kicking our fun to the side.

"Food," T2 said with a sigh of relief.

"Apparently he's been spending a lot of time out in the hunt club, comes in this time of day to eat."

"Sounds like they're all pretty sure he's out there." Tank said quietly.

"I'm not." Reaching into my coat pocket I checked the time on my cell. "We'll have a chat with Sheriff Keith and see if he can enlighten us of the situation a bit."

"Might want to find out where Bell is too." Sean said pushing away from where he'd been leaning against the Tahoe.

"Oh, he'll turn up. Especially once he finds out Ranger's kicking around." Ranger's expression was cold when I looked his way. I knew my husband hated Bell as much as I did, maybe not for the same reasons, but just as vehemently.

Sheriff Keith was just where Annabelle had said he would be. When I walked into the diner he lifted his head and looked my way, a curious expression crossing over his features. Not wanting to waste time I went directly to him and sat down at his table. He was just finishing up his coffee and pie.

"Surprised to see you back in the area." He said tugging on his ear and settling back in his seat.

"I hear Wellsley's been sighted."

The sheriff shrugged. "I wish I could confirm that for ya, but I didn't see the man."

"Who did?"

"Bell claims one of his men did." He glanced up at Ranger standing behind me and nodded. "Evening," Ranger was quiet.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"Can't say for sure, I don't know the man. I will say he's damn determined to bring that boy in."

"It's the reward." I replied.

"And the fact that he's your FTA." My eyes met Keith's. His were hard and brown, very direct. I got the feeling that while Sheriff Keith looked laid back and unconcerned, he was anything but. "Bell's been talking you up an awful lot since you left."

"That's just the competition."

"I don't know," Keith continued as he sipped his coffee. "He aint all there if you ask me."

"Tell us something we don't already know." Ranger replied.

Keith looked up at him. "You must be the one they call Ranger," Ranger nodded his head once. "Talks you up more than the lady here," he said pointing a finger in my direction.

"Where are they spending most of their time?"

"See now, that's the funny thing of it," he shifted in his seat, narrowed his gaze. "They aren't out there scoutin' hard like you'd think they would be. It's like they're sittin' and waitin' for something to fall into their laps." I inhaled deeply and looked out the window.

My internal radar was dinging, and loudly. If Bucky was here, and I was praying he wasn't, Bell should've found him by now. Something was up and I didn't like the way it made me feel.

"Can you tell me where they're staying?" I asked.

"Rented an old cottage," he pulled a napkin from the dispenser and wrote down the address. "They spend a lot their time there drinking and shootin' up the place. Word's trickled down that there are some women out there."

"Not town folk," I questioned, concerned.

"No," Keith said firmly shaking his head. "If that was happening I'd be out there right quick."

"Do _you_ think Wellsley is here?" I asked him, hoping for an honest answer.

"He could very well be. I aint gonna put my neck out though and say for sure he is." He looked up towards Ranger again. "Whatever you need for help though, you just call me." And with that he got to his feet, tossing some money on the table. "Try the pie tonight. It's good." He said with an easy smile and walked away.

I sat there for a moment saying nothing. Finally when Ranger tapped me on the shoulder I got to my feet and went to join the boys at their table. They were watching me, their expressions anxious.

I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach, one like I'd never had before. Something was telling me that this wasn't really about Bucky or the loot he was hiding. Someone had set Bucky up and I was pretty sure that very soon I'd know who that someone was.

Turning to the boys, I leaned on the table. "I'm going all of you this one time, and one time only," I said quietly, my eyes falling on each and every one of them. "If Bell's been playing with us and gotten Bucky involved in something as payback for our past," I shook my head and leaned back in my seat, my blood beginning to boil. "I'm gonna kill him."

And I meant it.


	26. Chapter 26

_**I own nothing, just playing with JE's characters! ~ Maia **_

We drove by Ben Peck's later on but the place was empty. The dogs were still caged and looked recently fed and watered so I figured wherever Peck had disappeared to, it wouldn't be for long.

The rain had finally let up, but the sky still blanketed everything in funky gloom. The air was oppressive, heavier than it would have been had the sun been out. The weatherman was promising things would clear up in the next few days, but I didn't care. I hoped to be gone in the next twenty-four hours.

Ranger and I drove into the hunt club to have a look around while the boys went and got us bunked down for the night. Instead of camping this time we opted for a motel room. Less muss and fuss when it came time to leave. Plus I wasn't figuring on staying for very long, so why set up a camp.

The hunt club was quiet, just as I'd expected it to be. No critter or man was going to frolic around in that vast acreage of unkempt land today. Not when there was a storm still raging in the distance.

Again I got the feeling that Bucky wasn't in the club. He wasn't the type to camp or spend his time outdoors. He was a creature-comfort kind of person, one who liked fast food, TV and sitting on his couch. Hunkering down during some storm in the wilderness was not the way Bucky would go. He might be close by, but not in the hunt club.

Ranger passed by the cottage Bell was renting. The lights were on inside and we could hear music blasting from where we'd parked on the side of the road, but there was no sign of Bell.

"Think he knows we're here?"

"I think he knew the moment we started back." Ranger replied.

"I'm feeling pretty played."

"He plays with you because he knows you'll fight back."

I shook my head. "And what would you have me do?"

"Ignore him."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to deal with him on a daily basis."

Ranger started the Tahoe and backed away from the cottage. Once we were a good enough distance down the road he glanced over at me. "Rachel, if this thing works out between the two of us, and I really want it to," he added with a smile. "Where do you want to live?"

I stared out the window a while, not saying anything. In my head there were about a dozen concerns floating around, all leading me to one final question. _Could Ranger and I really make it work?_

Finally I turned to him in my seat and tried to come up with the words that would move us past this and not ruffle any feathers. "Bud, I don't want diminish anything that's happened in the last few days –"

"So don't."

I worried my lower lip and just looked at him. He wasn't going to make this easy on me. "Okay, let me ask you this," I said pointing a finger at him. "Do you want to leave Jersey?" Silence. "I know you want to ask me the same about Dallas and I'm going to tell you the truth. It's my home." Ranger sighed softly. "You see… there are so many variables to all of this that we haven't even thought about."

"We love each other."

"Sometimes love isn't enough."

"Of course it is." He replied. "It got us here, didn't it?"

I looked around the truck, raised my hands in question and tried not to laugh. "But where are we Ranger?"

He cursed fiercely then looked my way. "You really don't want to leave Dallas?"

"It's my home." I said very carefully. "My portion of the business is there."

"You can run it from Jersey." I shook my head at him.

"You expect _me_ to make all the changes –"

"No," he grumbled. "Yes." I shot him a wide-eyed look. "I don't know, Rachel. Shit." He ran his fingers through his hair. "All I know is that I love you and I want to be with you. Geography can't be that big of a deal, can it?" I stared, didn't say a word. "Fuck." He hissed then floored the truck.

The silence in the truck was deafening on the way to the motel. I wasn't going to lie to him. He'd told me in the beginning that he wanted me to be honest with him and I was.

I loved my husband, and I probably now wanted to be with him just as much as he did me. The problem was that he'd spent a great deal of time away from Texas, away from our home and what we'd started there together almost a decade earlier. Dallas wasn't Ranger's home anymore, though he still owned a hefty mortgage there. And while I'd grown up in New Jersey, still felt tied to it in some way, it wasn't home to me. I didn't want to go back there with Ranger, nor did I want to start over with him in some cape by the shore. I liked what we had in Dallas. I liked my home nestled back in the woods on the lake. I liked my portion of the business and where it was located. I wanted to keep my friends, continue on with _my life_ because my roots were in Dallas.

In his apartment, hadn't Ranger told me that he had no roots, that he didn't see the need to start any given the way he lead his life? If that was the case, then why was it when it came to keeping me, he wouldn't let go of New Jersey? Was it his business, his apartment – though I shuddered at the thought – or the people?

His not wanting to leave Jersey could only mean one thing: that he'd laid down some roots there, regardless of what he wanted to believe.

Or it could mean something else. That he didn't want to leave Stephanie Plum.

That idea was still pressing down on my brain when we pulled into the motel. My heart and head hurt just thinking about the woman. I didn't want to believe anymore that she meant more to Ranger than he was letting on, but the more time passed and the more issues like, location… came up, it started to become abundantly clear to me that there were three people in my relationship with Ranger. And that was one too many for me.

Once we got into the motel room I dropped my duffle bag and pulled the clip out of my hair. I was exhausted, emotionally and physically. It'd been a long and draining day, one I wanted to end, quickly.

Turning towards Ranger I found him watching me, his bag still in his hand. Eyeing it for a moment I finally realized that Ranger and I were on the same page.

"You're not staying with me tonight." I stated more than questioned. Ranger sighed softly then glanced down at the floor. "It's fine." I said with a smile, my tone filled with understanding my heart didn't feel.

"I don't have any answers for you," he said quietly. There was so much pain in his eyes it almost ripped me in two. "I think we both have a lot to think about." I nodded my head once and continued to smile though my heart was breaking. He opened his mouth to say something, stopped, closed his eyes and tried to steady his emotions before continuing. "I won't be far." He choked out, and then without another word, he left me alone.

I stood in the same spot for a long time. I was having really hard time absorbing all that was happening around me. My marriage was still in question, more so than I'd originally thought, and I had an FTA I couldn't locate. One with a king-sized ransom on his head, and a group of bounty hunters chasing him who might just kill him.

Surprisingly, the latter problem didn't bother me as much as my marriage did. Pouring myself into work wasn't going to fix things this time. Ranger and I had delved into an area we'd never been in before. We loved each other, wanted to be together, but weren't ready to let go enough to give that love everything it was going to take. Sacrifice is _hard_.

Running my fingers through my hair I walked over and picked up my bottle of water. Twisting the cap off, I stood there holding it in my hand, staring off into space.

If things weren't going to work out with Ranger I needed to get him out of my life, and fast. There was no way I was going to survive falling in love with him again and losing him. Before he'd left because I'd asked him to. Now he might just leave because he needed to.

"Oh god," I cried, wishing I had someone to talk to.

Feeling myself choke up with tears I slammed the bottle of water down and went into the bathroom. There was no way I was going to cry about this, not when I'd originally set out to divorce the man, for crying out loud.

Turning on the faucet in the bathroom, I let the water burn hot as I stripped down then went and grabbed my bag of bathing items. On the way back to the bathroom I picked up the water bottle, downed half of it and switched on the A/C unit.

_I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry_.

Climbing into the hot shower, I stood under the almost scalding water and closed my eyes. After soaping up my hair, rinsing it and pouring some conditioner into my hand, I finally stopped and watched through blurred vision as the conditioner slipped through my fingers and down the drain.

_I needed to cry_. Needed to get out all the frustration I was feeling inside, frustration born not just from what was going on with Ranger, but from the rest of my fucking life as well.

Was what I had in Dallas really that important? Couldn't I relocate to Jersey again, start fresh with Ranger and the boys?

Shaking my head I leaned back against the shower wall and let go, the tears right there below the surface. I felt like I was floating on a boat in the middle of a big lake with no oars or means to get ashore. My heart and head were drifting in this funny limbo I couldn't control. And at the root of it was the sudden realization that Ranger might _leave me_. Not because I'd begged him to, and definitely not because I'd threatened, but because he felt he had no choice.

_Because it might just damn well be time_.

Sliding down the shower wall I sat down in the tub and let the water run over me until it was cold, my heart and body numb. Then with very little left to do, I carefully got out of the tub and with calculated movements, dried off and readied for bed.

Wandering back out into the room I looked around a moment, thanked myself for turning on the A/C and fell face first onto the bed.

Three quick minutes later, I was out like a light.


	27. Chapter 27

_**JE owns her characters, I own nothing! ~ Maia**_

I woke up the next morning feeling like a truck had hit me. I'd tossed and turned all night long, Ranger's face always the one I'd awaken to. A part of me wanted to steal over to his room, to take him in my arms and tell him everything was going to be okay, but a greater part of me was angry, felt rejected and not friendly at all, so I kept my distance.

Again, an exorcism was in order to make it through the day. So donning my running shoes and grabbing my iPod I hit the streets of Lumberton and prepared to pound Ranger out of my system with a good hard jog.

After running a couple of miles I stopped into a convenience store and bought myself a bottle of water. Heading back I found it ironic that I was listening to _Nickelback_ again, Chad's voice screaming out to me about fighting for all the wrong reasons. I could so totally relate, felt like I was eating and breathing that damn song.

Rounding the corner to the motel I slowed and started to walk the rest of the way back to my room. I didn't any better, but knew my body would thank me later on for the exercise.

Finishing my bottle of water I paused for a millisecond when I found Ranger standing outside my motel room, two coffees in his hand.

_Great. Just the way I needed to start my day_.

When he laid his eyes on me he pushed away from the wall and started my way. Wanting to avoid the inevitable for as long as possible, I went to one of the Tahoe's and opened the back. I was rummaging through a cooler for another bottle of water when Ranger approached.

"You're up early," I said finding what I wanted and backing away from the truck.

"I would've gone running with you."

I lifted a shoulder and let it drop as I slammed the Tahoe hatch and rounded the SUV. Ranger loved to run as much as I did. "I didn't feel like company."

"Ohhh... is that how it's gonna be," he said with a small smile. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked by him, noticed the smile dim when I didn't stop. "Rachel," he called out. I was hoping to get into the room and slam the door in his face, but his hand caught it before I could get it completely closed. "Don't shut me out." He said once we were both inside.

"Feels like I should be telling you that." Removing my iPod I kicked off my running shoes and started for the bathroom. Ranger advanced on me, spinning me around to face him. "_What_?" I yelled, sounding just as angry as I felt. His eyes darkened.

"Don't back peddle on me."

"Back peddle. Ha!" My tone dripped with sarcasm.

"Talk to me."

"Hey, pal. You were the one who opted to sleep in another room last night."

"Because I felt we needed time apart."

"You drew a line in the sand." He took a step back, stared at me quietly as he tried to comprehend what I'd just said to him.

"Is that what you think?" I turned away. "That's not why I slept somewhere else."

"Really," I replied, all full of piss and vinegar. "Well, you know want to know something? I don't care this morning."

"Don't do this," he said shaking his head at me. _Oh, so now this was my fault_?

"I'm not doing anything, bud. You were the one who pulled away last night."

"I did _not_ pull away. I slept two doors down so that –"

"I don't care!" I exclaimed raising my hands in the air, silencing him. Ranger stared at me, dumbfounded.

I felt like an ass, a complete and total ass. What the hell was I doing, yelling at him and carrying on like a distraught wife. That's not who I was. I didn't lose control. Not in my personal or professional life. This was totally out of character and a completely new territory for me.

Disgusted with myself, I stripped down to my sports bra and tossed my t-shirt onto the bed. I needed to calm down and quick.

Looking over at him again, I frowned. "You made it very clear last night that things aren't as easy as they seem with you."

Sighing heavily, Ranger ran his hand over his face and paced away. "I wish I'd never asked you that damn question."

"One of these days it would've come up."

"There's no reason why we can't keep both of the businesses." I shot him a look. "Just… listen to me." He pleaded.

"Oh, I'm all ears." I replied.

"I can commute."

"Commute?" He nodded. "As in, eat your cake and have it to?" I tossed back with a smile.

"What?"

"You can't let Stephanie go."

He held up a hand, his expression changing as he grew angry. "This has nothing to do with Stephanie."

"_Bull-shit_."

"You still don't trust me!" He exclaimed.

"I told you before you were going to have to make a choice. This isn't the right one."

"My decision to commute has nothing to do with Stephanie Plum." He said through clenched teeth. "I have extensions of RangeMan tied into my Jersey offices."

"Reroute them to Dallas." I offered up simply with a shrug.

"Just like that?" He asked incredulously.

"RangeMan didn't start out in Jersey, Ranger. It started in Dallas. Do you really expect me to drop everything I have going in Dallas? That'd be professional suicide!"

"That's why I'm suggesting we keep RangeMan Jersey _and_ RangeMan Dallas." I shook my head, ran my fingers through my hair.

It wasn't as simple as just keeping the two businesses. Ranger was right. I didn't trust him. Men had been having relationships in other states behind their wives backs for centuries. And given my husband's track record, I wasn't about to agree to an arrangement that might take us down one of those roads.

Turning towards him again, I shook my head. "I can't do it." He stared at me. "You're in love with Stephanie Plum."

"No," he said shaking his head.

"You can lie to yourself, but you're not going to be able to lie to me. I can see how you feel about her. It's in your eyes. Every time her name comes up your expression shifts, just like it does when you're around me."

"Rachel… we've gone over this. I don't want to spend the rest of my life with Steff. I want to spend it with you."

"Then you know what you have to do to have that."

I stared at me a moment. "Impossible," he muttered placing his hands on his hips and looking away. "I'm being absolutely honest with you when I tell you that my relationship with Stephanie has no bearing on any of this."

"Tank says that watching over her at times is more of an amusement than work."

He lifted a shoulder, let it drop. "It is."

"Yet you pay your men to watch over her."

"You would ask me to have them do it for _free_?" He chuckled, shook his head at me. "What's your point?"

"There's no monetary gain in keeping an eye on Stephanie Plum."

"She's my friend."

"She's someone you've slept with. Someone I'm not comfortable having you share a relationship with."

He closed his eyes, "We weren't together then…"

"See, that's where you're wrong. We've always been together, Ranger. We're still tied to one another because you won't sign those damn papers. You chose to paint outside the lines, to rewrite the rules to suit your needs."

"It was one time."

"One time too many." He groaned and spun away. "It's her or me, bud."

"I choose you, I lose everything I've started in Jersey."

"Is business more important than your marriage?" His expression was blank when he fixed his eyes on me again. He clearly didn't know how to answer. "Maybe we should call this what it is –"

"And what would that be, Rachel?" He shot back. "Do you think I can just turn off what I feel for you? I've loved you longer than I've loved anyone in my life. You're _it_ for me." I looked away, the sincerity in his eyes torture. "Is this easy for you? Because it certainly isn't for me." He took a step towards me, paused. "Just choose you." He continued quietly. "Drop everything that I've been working on in Jersey, and just… choose you..." he trailed off. "Fuck, if it were that easy, do you think we'd really be having this conversation?"

"I know it's not that easy, that's why I went to New Jersey with those papers."

"You came to me with those papers in a last ditch effort to save our marriage. Don't play like your coming back was anything other than what it really was."

"I knew that we couldn't make it work –"

"Did you? Really? Because when you're lying in my arms it feels like it's working really well." Disgusted that he'd go there I flipped him the one figure salute and headed for the bathroom. "That's mature." He scoffed and turned for the door.

"I want you… _out of my life!_" I cried spinning back to face him. He stopped, door knob in hand. "I don't care if you leave in the next five minutes, three hours or even in the next two days. I want you _gone_. I want those papers signed and I want this over with." I said choking up, unable to control my emotions a minute longer. "I can't do this anymore, Ranger. I'm not strong enough to battle with you on a daily basis." His eyes met mine, the pain there unbearable. "My heart can't take it." I whispered, and just like that he was across the room, taking me in his arms. "No, no-no-nno-no…" I cried as he held me close.

"Don't push me away," he whispered against my hair.

"It's already over. You know it's already over." I said looking up at him, tears flowing.

Ranger cradled my face in his hands, kissed me softly on the lips and held me tight again. "It'll never be over. I won't let it be."

"We're destroying each other."

"No. We're working through this. It hurts, but we're working through this."

"I can't take much more."

He shook his head, held me close. "You won't have to." He told me, but I wasn't sure anymore. I didn't see an out for either of us, and I was pretty sure Ranger couldn't either.


	28. Chapter 28

_**JE owns her characters, I'm just playing with them! ~ Maia **_

After a couple of phone calls I took a long, hot shower, gathered myself together and got ready for the day. When I went outside to meet the guys I wasn't dressed in my usual fatigues but jeans, a pink top, brown leather jacket and boots.

They were going over the maps when I approached, a GPS handy for plugging in anything they might need. All eyes fell on me, held for a moment before anyone spoke. It was Sean who broke the silence first. "I thought we were going into the club?"

"Take Ranger and Tank with you, see if you can find Bell and his boys, maybe rustle up some trouble." I turned to T2. "You got any problem watching my back today?"

T2's eyes shifted hesitantly from mine over towards Ranger. "Uh, no." He replied clearly confused. Ranger was staring at me. Hard.

"I've made some phone calls to friends, tugged on a few lines."

"Anything you want to share?" Sean questioned.

"Not right now." I said and checked my watch. "We'll check in with each other at twelve-hundred, see where we're at." Everyone nodded, started for the vehicles. Ranger followed me to mine.

As I reached the passenger side door of the Tahoe he touched my arm, turning me towards him. A feeling of dread instantly filled my belly. I had to look away.

Things were off, very off, between the two of us. Possibly we'd said too much. Probably things we didn't want to take back. "Take care of yourself today." I nodded my head, looked down at the ground. "What happened this morning –"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"That much is obvious."

"You wanted some time apart, I'm giving you that." Silence. "I guess I need some, too."

Ranger looked away, mixed emotions crossing over his face. "We've put each other in a very tough place." I shrugged. "My feelings for you haven't changed." When I looked up into his eyes, they were warm and dark brown, almost undoing me.

"You know how I feel about all of this."

"I do."

"Then we'll leave it at that." He inhaled deeply then exhaled slowly, his eyes never leaving mine. A few minutes later I was in the truck with T2, the silence between the two of us almost deafening.

"Everything okay?" He asked quietly, his tone almost bringing tears to my eyes.

"I'll be fine."

"That much I know. You're always fine. I just want to know if, really… you're okay." I looked over at him, the tears shimmering in my eyes enough to make him grimace. "I'm sorry."

"I'll be fine." I repeated then turned to look out the window.

"Okay then, where to?"

I blinked back my tears, steadied myself before answering. Losing it again wasn't something I needed to do, and not in front of T2. He was a friend, but he was also an employee. I'd never had my personal life so mixed up with my professional. I felt off stride with my men because of it.

Turning to him I tucked it all away. "I want to check in with the sheriff then swing by Peck's."

"Think Bucky's with him?"

"I think there's a good chance Peck has learned something new. He just needs someone big and strong to make him understand that he needs to tell us." T2 grinned. "Know anyone that could coerce him?"

"I might." He replied and I smiled.

The sheriff wasn't in when we stopped. We were told he probably wouldn't be in until later on, given it was Sunday and all, family day. It annoyed me that the dispatcher asked about Ranger's whereabouts, my annoyance annoying me even more. I hated that the mere mention of him set me off. I didn't have time for all this bullshit in my life. This drama with my husband was turning into a soap opera, and I liked my life one hundred percent drama free.

Heading towards Peck's I decided to swing by Bell's camp, see if we could find some life there. Spotting Ranger and the boys already staking out the joint, we took off and left them to their task. I was sure we weren't needed since all looked quiet inside. I hated stakeouts anyway, didn't have the patience for it.

Turning the corner onto Pond Road where Peck lived, I noticed a beat up old pick up truck approaching us in the distance. Leaning forward and squinting my eyes I tried to make out the type and color. "That looks like Peck's truck."

T2 leaned forward as well. "Two men in that truck."

"Huh." I replied and motioned for T2 to slow down a bit. As the truck approached it slowed as well, paused a moment as if assessing the situation then sped up, sending stones flying as it barreled down the road towards us.

"Holy shit!" T2 yelled out, barely maneuvering the Tahoe out of the way as the truck zipped by. "That fucker almost hit us!"

"Bucky was in that truck!" I exclaimed and T2 jumped to attention. "Go, go, go!"

"I'm going!" T2 shouted back as he spun the Tahoe around on the narrow road, heading after the two of them. The truck was a piece of shit. It slid all over the graveled road, fishtailing as Peck tried to gain speed. Coming up to the intersection that would bring them back onto route 100, Peck blew a stop sign and almost collided with another going through.

"He's gonna kill them both." I muttered, reaching into my pocket for my cell phone. Hitting the speed dial for Ranger, I cursed at T2 when he almost hit another car, punching him in the arm while listened for Ranger to answer.

"We're still at Bell's."

"Forget Bell. We're chasing Bucky in Peck's truck."

"Where?" I told him where we were. Ranger was quiet. I knew he was probably getting himself and the boys rolling.

"What the fuck is he doing?" T2 said straining to see out windshield. Bucky had opened the slider in the back of the truck and was reaching under a tarp for something.

"Oh no." I mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Ranger replied and T2 let off the gas.

"You don't think..." T2 said to me, confusion and intrigue lighting up his face.

"I don't know, just ease back a bit." If Bucky was carrying, I wasn't about to find out how good of a shot he was.

"Rachel, what's going on?" Ranger barked. It was then that I saw Bucky pull out a couple of small boxes, an evil smile on his face. Rolling down my window I stuck my head out and screamed Bucky's name. "Rachel?" I heard Ranger hollar again and pushed the phone to my ear.

"We're fine... I think."

"You think?" Ranger yelled, the fear in his voice probably something I would've noticed any other time, but right at that moment, I was oblivious my attentions were so focused on Bucky.

And that's when I saw what was in his hand. "Oh, you little _sonofabitch_!"

"Are those –" T2 started then immediately slammed on the brakes when Bucky started emptying the boxes onto the ground.

"Swerve, T2!"

"I can't swerve, Rachel!" He exclaimed.

And just like that, all four tires blew out, one by fabulous one.

We skidded over the two boxes of roofing nails like we were driving on ice. "That fucker!" I yelled dropping the cell into my lap and bracing myself with one hand on the dash, the other holding the johnny strap over my door. It took T2 a minute to get the truck under control, but he finally managed it. There'd even been a point when I'd thought we were going to tip the Tahoe over. Fortunately we made it to the side of the road – just barely – all of our body parts intact.

Closing my eyes a moment I shook my head and laughed, just laughed over the entire situation.

"Well, at least we know he's in town." Opening my eyes I turned to T2 and smiled.

"That was fun." I replied.

"Yeah." He said with a wink then glanced down at the phone in my lap when Ranger barked my name again.

Picking it up I sighed softly. "We're fine."

"What the fuck happened?"

"Stop about fifty feet after the stop sign and bring the hazard signs out of the back of your truck."

"What?"

"We've got four flat tires." Silence. "Bucky dumped two full boxes of roofing nails on the ground."

"Roofing nails." He repeated, his voice monotone.

"Yup."

I could almost hear him smile through the phone. "We'll be right there. You want Sean to call a tow truck?"

"Please." I said looking off into the distance. I could see taillights about a half-mile down the road. Bucky and Peck were sitting _Dukes of Hazzard_ style out the trucks windows, laughing at us. Shaking my head I looked over at T2. "This is war now, my friend."

"You want me to shoot them?"

"No. I'm gonna take care of Bucky myself." I said lightly, feigning cheerfully indifference. "And at this moment, shooting him would be too kind."

We watched the two boobs get back into their truck, listened as they honked their horn and took off down the road. Shaking my head again I got out of the truck with T2 to assess the damage, then dialed the sheriff's number and told him what'd happened. It took him a minute to understand what I was telling him but once he did, he too was laughing before I hung up the phone.

Which ticked me off even more.


	29. Chapter 29

_**Sorry! It's been a while. The warmer weather has pulled me out of the house and away from the computer more often than not. Hope you haven't lost interest! **_

_**I own nothing, JE owns her characters... ~ Maia**_

When Ranger arrived I was sitting very prim and proper on the trucks tailgate, one leg casually crossed over the other as I waited. I watched him quietly take in the scene, my insides churning with humiliation as a smirk crossed over his handsome features.

Turning towards T2 and myself, Ranger slowly wandered in our direction. It was probably a good thing he was wearing his dark sunglasses, because I knew if I saw the amusement swimming in his eyes I'd throttle him.

Resting my hands in my lap I caught T2's eye and we both smiled at each other in alliance. We weren't going to take any shit for this one. There'd been a lot of things I'd gotten myself into in the past, but this one had a silver lining, sort of. At least I'd located my FTA and not fallen completely flat on my face.

When Ranger reached the truck he kicked some of the roofing nails out of the way – just because he could – and rested his hands on his hips as he turned to me. "Tow trucks on the way."

"Good." I replied with a nod, my eyes connecting with Sean's briefly. He was standing behind Ranger and holding himself in check.

"I thought you were going to take care of her today?" Sean teased his buddy.

T2 shot him a look and crossed his monstrous arms over his chest. "At least I didn't roll the truck and kill her."

"Got lucky there." Ranger replied looking around at all the nails - again, just because he could. "It's going to take DOT all day to clean this mess up." _Yeah, he just had to rub that in too_.

"Not my problem," I replied and Ranger looked over at me, smiled. "Go ahead," I offered. He was just dying to rub this whole thing in. I could feel it. "Get it all out. You know you want to rib the two of us blind."

"I do." He replied, his grin widening. "I really, really do, but… I figure the cost of the tow truck, four new tires and just having us here to witness this is enough." Cursing under my breath, I jumped down from the truck only to be quickly rescued by Ranger when I slipped on some nails, almost falling on my ass.

Steadying me on my feet, Ranger could no longer keep in his laughter and let free everything he'd been holding in. If I'd had the footing I would've punched him square in the jaw, but by the time I found my legs my cell phone started ringing.

"Yeah?" I said while glaring at Ranger.

"Did you forget about me?" My ears perked at Morelli's voice. He'd been the one I'd called earlier.

"No," I replied, kicking nails. "I thought you'd forgotten about me." His chuckle washed over my poor mood and brought a smile to my face.

"You should know by now that I almost never forget a pretty face."

"Ah, you flirt." I sensed Ranger stiffen to my left, and without a glance in his direction, I walked away. "What can I do for you?"

"It's not what you can do for me, but what I can do for you."

"Really," I replied, kicking more nails as I walked towards the front of the Tahoe. "You got something special for me?"

"Honey, if you _only_ knew." This time I laughed and _thought about_ looking to see if Ranger was watching, but decided against it and continued on. "So, my contact in Washington called me a bit ago." Good news!

"Yeah?"

"Apparently your guy _is_ in the database."

"Interesting." I hopped in the truck, fished for paper and a pen. "How deep?"

"Deep enough that it was hard to dig him up."

I smiled. "So my FTA's story is on the up and up."

"I don't know about that," Joe replied. "But, someone's trying really hard to bury whatever he's involved in." This wasn't good news.

"_Perfect_. Now I've got drug dealers, rival bounty hunters and the federal government after my FTA?" My mood deflated again.

"He's holding quite a bit of goods, Rachel." I sighed softly, drew circles on the paper I was holding.

Staring at my doodles I steeled myself and asked the question I didn't want to. "How much?"

"Two-mill in cash, another five hundred K in artillery and they're guesstimating about twenty kilos of cocaine. No idea on the heroine as of yet."

I groaned, rested my head against the steering wheel and closed my eyes. "He's dead, Joe." Silence. "If I don't get to him soon, he's dead."

"Sweetheart, he's dead even if you _do_ get to him." He replied, his tone turning comforting. "You alright down there? Ranger still with you?"

"Yeah," I said quietly.

"I wish I could be of more help."

"You've done enough." I replied rolling my forehead back and forth against the hard plastic of the steering wheel. "At least now I know what ballpark I'm playing in." Joe sighed softly and I sat up in my seat. "I can't tell you how badly I wanna just walk away from this one."

"You can. Its just money, gorgeous."

"If only that were true…" and I trailed off. I wasn't just about the money anymore. It was about life and death, about my marriage and bunch of other things I couldn't even remember at the moment. Ego wouldn't let me walk away from the challenge, my heart wouldn't let me turn my back on the rest. No matter how much I wanted to crawl under a rock until this was all over with, I knew I had to carry on. "Anyway, thanks for the information."

"Anytime. You got a line on him at least?"

"He's in the area, I know that much for sure. I spotted him with my own two eyes about an hour ago."

"Then you're almost there." I smiled.

"Thanks for the support, Joe."

"Again… anytime." After I hung up the phone I stared off into space then noticing movement in the distance I squinted my eyes. About a half mile down the road a tow truck pulled up and stopped. When the driver got out, he looked down at the mess in between him and the SUV and shook his head.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… I know what you're thinking." Turning to get out of the truck I came up short when Ranger filled the doorway. "Jesus." I said shaking my head at him. "You scared the crap out of me." He said nothing. "I'm going to go down and talk to the tow truck driver." Ranger didn't move. Looking up at him, I frowned. "What?"

"Nothing," he said quietly then with careful movements he moved out of my way. Something in Ranger's behavior had me pausing though, looking back. I wanted to ask him what was wrong, because it was obvious something was, but left it alone.

After chatting with the tow truck driver for a few minutes we decided he'd have to wait for DOT to clean up the road before he could do anything about the Tahoe. And even then he had to go back to the shop first and switch vehicles. There was no towing the Tahoe. It was going to need to be flat bedded.

Joining up with the boys again I noticed Ranger was standing off to the side, chatting on his phone. Glancing over at Tank I shot him a questioning look. He shook his head at me and turned away.

Going over to Sean, I kept my eyes on Ranger. "This puppy isn't going anywhere for a long time."

"Didn't think it would," Sean said with a shake of his head. "What are we doing next?"

"I need to find Bucky. His time is running out, and not only because of me." Sean nodded his head and we both turned Ranger's way. "Come here a minute." I said after a few moments. Once we were a safe distance away I turned to Sean and sighed softly. "I'm getting some vibes from Ranger that he's going to leave soon."

Sean looked over my shoulder towards Ranger. "Wish I could say I didn't feel the same way." Sean's eyes met mine, held and filled with concern. "Are you alright?" I lifted a shoulder and let it drop. It wasn't my intention to put Sean in the middle of my marital affairs, but he was my friend, the only one in our group other than Tank who knew Ranger as well as I did. Unfortunately he happened to be Ranger's friend too, which made things sticky.

"You can't fix what's been broken."

Sean grimaced then reached out to run a knuckle down my cheek. "You guys were doing good there for a little while. I thought you might just pull this out."

I looked down at my hands, stared at my bare ring finger and swallowed the lump in my throat. "I thought so, too. But… we can't change what this is."

"And what would that be?"

My eye's met Sean's. "Over." I hated saying the word out loud, but saying it helped a little. Pretending that everything would be fine wasn't doing Ranger and I any good. We needed to sit down, settle everything and let it go. Only then would the healing process begin.

Looking over at Ranger I watched him hang up his phone and turn towards me. When our eyes connected I knew we were on the same page and it broke my heart. "Do you think you and T2 can supervise the clean up here?"

"Sure." Sean replied with a shrug like it was nothing. "Rach... I'm sorry." I flashed him a weak smile. "If there were ever two people who deserved each other, it's you and Ranger."

"Thanks," was all I could say.

Walking over towards my husband I steeled my back and watched him do the same. If we could make it through these next couple of hours, we might just make it out of this slightly unscathed.

Only slightly though.

Standing in front of Ranger I looked up into his chocolate brown eyes, felt my chest tighten and smiled weakly. "What do you think, bud?" He looked away, his jaw tensing. I could see he was in pain, that this was just as hard on him as it was on me. For once though, I was going to try and make this as easy on Ranger as I could. He deserved that much from me.

"Sean and T2 staying?" He finally asked and I nodded. "Alright then."

We both turned towards the Tahoe in the distance and Ranger motioned for Tank to join us.

_This hurts. Oh god this hurts!_ I thought as I walked away.

My heart hurt so badly I wanted to rub a hand over it and make the ache go away. Each inward breath of air felt like fire as I tried to control my emotions, attempted to steady my breathing. Ranger was walking next to me, but it felt like he was a million miles away. And the tension between the two of us? Oh, you _couldn't_ have cut it with a knife.

Watching him round the other side of the SUV, I heard him say something quietly to Tank and wanted to scream over the situation.

_This isn't what I want, I know it's not what he wants, but what do I do?_

Rubbing a hand over my face I took a deep breath and realized there was nothing I could do. Not everything was up to me this time. I didn't want this to end, for us to separate, but in the end it wasn't really my decision alone.

Did I want Ranger to go back to New Jersey and the life he had there? Absolutely not. I wanted him here, with me. I wanted – _for once_ – to be more important to my husband than anything else he had going on. I wanted more than he could give me, which was probably a normal desire for most women, but this was Ranger we were talking about. One of his goals in life was to always make the impossible, possible. Guess that only applied to business.

Leaning back against the truck I gave into the fact that none of this was fair, not for me and definitely not for Ranger. But, there was no sense in denying the inevitable. I wasn't going to give and neither was my husband, and since marriage is supposed to be all about that give and take thing, we were failing miserably.

When we got back to the motel, Tank went to his room to gather his things, leaving Ranger and I alone. A part of me wished Tank would come back, that he'd stay until the very last moment so that Ranger and I wouldn't be forced to say goodbye. Unfortunately luck wasn't on my side.

"Shouldn't take me long." He said quietly.

I shrugged, smiled as cheerfully at him as I could. "Take your time." He nodded once then headed for his room. Watching him walk away I choked up a little then chastised myself for letting it happen. _You reap what you sow, Rachel_.

Flipping open my phone, I stared at my contact list desperate for a distraction then dialed Kathleen. She answered on the first ring. "How's it going down there?"

"We should be home in the next couple of days."

"Wow! That's good news. You found Bucky already?" I sighed softly, glanced towards Ranger's room and felt tears well up in my eyes. "Rachel?"

"I'm driving Ranger and Tank to the airport then the boys and I will pick up with the chase."

There was a bit of silence on the other end of the phone. "Oh, Rachel…"

"When this is over, I'm going to need to make arrangements to sell the townhouse in Jersey and bring the two vehicles I have there back to Dallas."

"Trivial issues. Are you sure this is what you want?"

I laughed, my chest tightening all over again. "No… no, I'm not, but it's over. He and I both know it."

"Why?" Such a simple question yet the truth was too hard to explain.

"Because his life is in Jersey and mine is in Dallas."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Everything." I replied

"But –"

"Don't ask a lot of questions now, okay? I can't deal with questions right now. Not when he's fifty feet away and walking out of my life for the last time." Kathleen cursed viciously and I laughed. "Yeah, my sentiments exactly."

"Call me after he's gone."

"After he's gone I'm finding Bucky and going home."

"Is it gonna be that easy?" I turned at the sound of Ranger's door opening.

"Gonna have to be. Gotta go." And I disconnected.

Ranger had changed his clothes. Instead of fatigues he was wearing jeans, a clean white t-shirt and his leather jacket. He looked fantastic, so edible it hurt to think I'd never be alone with him intimately again.

After tossing his bag into the back of the Tahoe he walked over to me, smiled faintly. "This isn't how I wanted this to end."

I reached up, touched his face. "I didn't want it to end at all."

He closed his eyes. "Rachel."

"You were right, bud. I went up there with those papers in hopes of saving us. I denied it, but deep down I knew what I was doing. I'd thrown caution to the wind in a last ditch effort to hang onto you." I moved in closer to him. "Unfortunately, it was already too late. We wasted the years we should've been fixing this doing other things. Things I can't even remember being all that important at this point."

Ranger was fighting emotions, hard. "Yesterday we were fine… today I'm going home."

"That's reality."

"No, that sucks, Rachel." Reaching up he grabbed me by the back of the neck and pulled me into him. "Why can't we make this work?" He cried.

"Maybe because we don't love each other enough."

"Not true."

I moved away so that I could look up into his face, a face that was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. "You don't want to think it is, but soon you'll realize I'm right."

Shaking his head he pressed his lips against mine, took the kiss deeper and held on tight. "I'm always gonna love you."

My eyes met his and I touched his face again. "I love you," I mouthed and kissed him tenderly. "But, now I'm letting you go."

"I don't know how to respond to that."

I smiled. "By doing the same."

"You're killing me," he whispered, tears filling his eyes as he clung to me. "How am I ever going to shove this back down again." I smiled, finding comfort in that statement.

"You're not alone. Please don't think you're alone." A door opened behind us, Tank emerging. Ranger let me go and spun away so that he could reign in his emotions. I turned towards Tank, swiped at my tears.

"I can come back." He offered apologetically after assessing the scene.

"No," I replied with a shake of my head. "No sense in putting off the inevitable." I turned to look at Ranger, found him leaning against the Tahoe facing the other way. His shoulders were sagging and he had his hand up near his eyes. After a few minutes he donned his sunglasses and turned towards us.

"You driving?" He asked me and I nodded. "Alright."

On the way to the airport the tension in the truck was thick enough you could cut it with a knife. I wanted to reach over and take Ranger's hand in mine, but I held back. Clinging to him was the last thing either of us needed at this point. A clean break, that's what the doctor was ordering. It might not cure anything, but it sure as hell would lessen the pain.

Half way to the airport my cell phone started ringing. Pulling it out of my pocket and checking the ID, I paused for a moment, asked myself _why_ then flipped the phone open. "You're the last person I expected to hear from right now." I said shaking my head.

"I need your help," Bucky cried.

"I don't think I'm feeling really helpful right now, Buck." Ranger turned my way.

"They're coming for me, Rachel. You've got to help me." He sounded shaken, nervous.

"Man, I'd love to, but my truck is kinda out of commission. Any idea why that is?"

Buck grumbled. "I'm sorry 'bout that. But, you've got another! Come get me! I'll go with you wherever you want. Just…" he paused and cursed as a loud banging started up in the background.

"Buck?" He didn't answer, but the commotion in the background increased. "Bucky?" The phone went dead. "Fuck." I threw the phone onto the dash, slammed on the breaks and swung the truck around.

"Peck's?" I nodded my head at Ranger and watched as he reached into his bag and retrieved his gun. "What did you hear?"

"Someone's found him."

"What did he say?" Tank called out from the backseat.

"That he needed help and that they were coming for him." Ranger cursed.

"We're gonna be too late."

"We'd better not be." I replied and punched the accelerator.

It seemed to take forever for us to get to Peck's place. When we did we pulled up beside Peck's truck and a black van, climbed out and took our positions.

Everything was quiet in the house, but the dogs were going nuts, which scared the shit out of me. Glancing over at Ranger he nodded his head once, so I called out to Buck. "Rachel?" I heard him cry from inside. "Oh, Jesus, Rachel…" He sounded far off, distant and like he was in pain.

"Bucky? Are you alright?" There was a bunch of noise inside then a window blew out, silencing the dogs for a moment. Ducking behind the hood of the Tahoe I waited, but nothing else happened right away.

"Hey, pretty lady!" I heard someone yell and peeked over the hood. "You'd best get your ass back in that truck and get the hell out of here."

"Not going to happen," I called back. "I want my FTA. _Alive_."

"You're gonna be picking up pieces of him in about ten minutes. And if you're not careful that pretty little truck of yours is gonna need a new paint job by the time we're done." He said laughing.

"Just take what you need and give me Wellsley!"

"You're dreamin'! This boy here's gonna pay for what he took." I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of someone getting beaten inside the house. Then tapping my head against the Tahoe in frustration, I glared up at the sky and tried to calm my frazzled nerves. I wasn't going to lose Bucky. Not this way. I'd already lost my marriage. I wouldn't lose my FTA as well.

So, without any warning I walked out from behind the truck, my hands in the air and started for the house.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Ranger called out.

"Hey!" I yelled towards the house. "You listening? How about a trade? Me for the Buckmeister!"

Someone poked their head around a curtain briefly then disappeared. "Now, why in the hell would you want to do something dumb like that?"

"I already told you, I want my FTA _alive_."

"You do realize I could just shoot you right where you are," he said chuckling. "Ending all this very unpleasantly for you."

"You won't make it out of the yard if you do." I replied, and knew it to be true. "My husband is standing behind the truck and he'll kill you before you can leave." That statement was greeted by silence. "Give me Bucky and I'll go with you." I heard Ranger groan from behind the truck but I tuned him out. "I called the sheriff on the way over here. He's coming with a boatload of PD and the Feds. I can help you get out of here if you'll let Bucky go." More silence. And then as if on cue, sirens started wailing in the distance.

"You can get us out of here?"

"Yup." I pointed towards the gun still in my hand, tossed it towards the Tahoe. Ranger called me a really colorful name and I flipped him the bird.

"Who's to say your husband aint gonna kill me once I make the exchange?"

"Don't worry about it, we're getting a divorce anyway." I replied. "Hello?"

"Alright… alright." The guy called out. "You start walking slowly and I'll give you Bucky."

"Rachel, no." Ranger said from behind me, but I didn't listen. I knew what I was doing was wrong, dumb, stupid and wrong, but I didn't care. Tunnel vision had set in.

After that things progressed quickly. I was so fixated on getting into the house and getting Bucky out that I didn't see the two men slip out the side window. Not until they were halfway to the woods and it was too late, anyway.

Looking over my shoulder towards Ranger – my mind and body stuck in some goofy slow motion – I realized my mistake and watched helplessly as he bolted out from behind the truck, Tank on his heels.

When the house exploded the force grabbed me and tossed me through the air like a ragdoll, flinging my body into the van with bone crunching fierceness. I hit my shoulder hard enough that I heard it pop, felt the pain almost instantaneously as wood and glass rained down from above.

Collapsing onto the ground, my last thought was of Ranger and that I'd failed all the way around. I'd lost my husband and my FTA.

And just as Ranger's face floated into my blurred vision, everything went black...


	30. Chapter 30

_**I own nothing, JE owns her characters... ~ Maia**_

What felt like an eon later, I woke up on a moving gurney. My head was fuzzy, my shoulder killed and I felt like I'd been poked with a thousand tiny needles. I was outside, that much I knew for sure because I could still smell burning wood. Turning I eyed where Peck's house had been. Then it hit me.

"Ranger!" I cried out yanking the oxygen mask off of my face.

"Ma'am, you need to lie still now. We're gonna take you to the hospital."

"The hell you are! Ranger!" I cried out again, searching for him. "_Ranger_," I said straining to get up, tears in my eyes. I felt him before I saw him, smelled him before his face floated into my vision. Crying out softly I reached for him and he gathered me close.

"You're okay," he whispered against my hair. "You shouldn't be, but you're okay." He sounded shaken, rattled to the core, his tough exterior gone for the moment.

"Y-you?" I asked, trembling.

"Fine." He said kissing my brow and smiling. "I'm fine."

I pulled him down and held on tight, clinging to him like a wounded child. "Get me off of this thing," I finally said moving away. He cradled my face in his hands and sighed softly.

"Baby, you need to go to the hospital."

"No," I said reaching for the restraints and clawing at them. "Get me off of this thing." I replied a bit more urgently. I hated hospitals and Ranger knew that. No one I'd ever loved had been to one and come home okay.

"Rachel, please…" I shook my head at him. "Rachel, you're going to hurt yourself even more." But there was no way I was going to the hospital. I didn't feel _that_ bad. Sure my shoulder killed and my head felt like it'd been squished, but I'd done worse to myself when enlisted. I could pop my shoulder back into place all by myself, and a couple of aspirin would cure the throbbing in my skull.

"Ranger, if you love me you'll get me off this thing _right now_." He stared at me - hard, his eyes filling with concern as tried to figure out what to do. As my husband I could see he wanted to force me to go, wanted to make sure I was truly okay, and I loved him for that, but I knew, he knew, I'd be fine. "I'll go later if needed, but not this way."

He looked away and for a moment I thought he wasn't going to give in until his eyes met mine again, the worry crossing over his face touching my heart. "Do you _promise_?"

"Yes. _Please_," I pleaded, but he still made me wait. "Ranger…" He didn't trust me to go if needed later on, I could see it in his eyes, but what could he do?

Groaning he turned away and grabbed an EMT by the back of the shirt. "Unstrap her," he ordered and pointed at me.

The EMT looked at me then back towards my husband. "Sir," he said cautiously. "I don't think that'd be wise."

"I _said_... unstrap my wife." He told him again carefully. Ranger looked like it was taking all he had not to explode.

"But, with her injuries -" the EMT pushed.

"_Unstrap her now_!" Ranger yelled, and even I jumped on the gurney. It took only seconds for the guy to realize there was no room for discussion, so he let me go. Within a few moments I was freed and in Ranger's arms again. "Your shoulder," he said moving away and handling me with kid gloves.

"I'll put it back in a minute."

"Rachel… I hate it when you do this," his patience were just about gone, his rough exterior dissolving. There was dirt and soot on his face, a couple of cuts just above his left eyebrow and his t-shirt was ruined.

Grabbing him by the front of his leather jacket with my good hand, I pulled him close. "Kiss me, bud." He looked down into my face, saw something desperate in my eyes and caved. "I don't want us to end," I cried against his lips as tears poured down my cheeks. "We can fix this. I know we can."

"Okay," he replied, but he sounded doubtful and was holding me very carefully, like he thought I would break. "Okay." He repeated again, relieved for the moment, but still cautious.

"I'm sorry."

"You're _sorry_?" he replied laughing. "_Sweet Jesus_, woman… What the hell were you thinking? I thought I'd lost you back there. Why would you bargain with them like that?" I stared at him, saying nothing. I deserved whatever he had to say and much more. "You know better, Rachel. You could've gotten yourself killed!"

I smiled at him, reveled for a moment in the fact that he was slowly losing it. "I love you." He didn't reply, he couldn't. He was too angry at first and then too choked up to get the words out so he just held me tight and kissed me like he'd never kissed me before. When we parted I glanced over towards the house, frowned. "He's dead, isn't he?"

"They're both gone." I shook my head, buried my face in his shoulder. "Rachel, you tried."

"I was too late."

"No, you did your best." I sighed softly, started to move then cried out when my shoulder kicked in its discomfort.

"_Omigod_, you're gonna have to help me with this."

"No. No, no." He said holding up both hands and backing away. "The last time you had me help you do this you blacked out on me."

"It'll be fine this time."

"No way, Rachel." He shook his head. "Uh-uh."

"Please," I pleaded holding onto my limp arm. "I can't do it alone and you're the only one I trust." Ranger cursed viciously and paced away.

"You promised me you'd go to the hospital." He said spinning back around to face me.

"It only hurts for a second this way," he shook his head at me again, digging his heels in. "C'mon, bud… don't wuss out on me _now_." He shot me a lethal look and I smiled sweetly at him. "Please help me pop the fucker back into place. _I'm begging you_."

He shook his head, "I'm gonna throttle you if you black out on me again." I grinned at him then watched as he hesitantly moved in closer, cursing at me all the way. When he was finally ready I looked up at him, batted my pretty blue eyes. "You think you're cute don't you."

"I'll sex you up good later on if you do it quick."

"Sex me up good, shit… you probably won't be able to move." He shot back. I knew Ranger hated doing this. The one other time I'd popped my shoulder out of socket he'd help put it back then as well. I'd been young and new to that kind of pain. Still, seeing me like that then and now rattled Ranger like nothing else.

"I don't understand why you're so mad at me," I replied as we both moved into position against the van, him facing me with one hand on my shoulder and a knee between my legs, my back against the van. "It's not like I did this on purpose, and if I had gone to the hospital we wouldn't be enjoying –" The pop caught me off guard, the pain had my head swimming and my stomach rolling. When I looked up at Ranger I cursed a string of violent words, saw stars, but didn't pass out.

Bending forward I held my shoulder and tried to steady my breathing. I wanted to puke, would've enjoyed tossing my cookies all over Ranger's pretty boots. "You could've at least warned me!" I yelled.

"It's easier when I don't." He bent down in front of me, smiled up into my face with absolutely no sympathy whatsoever in his handsome features. "You still going to sex me up later on?"

My blue eyes heatedly met his. "I'm gonna rip your balls off and make you eat them for dinner." He chuckled and pulled me into his arms. "Ohhhh, that hurt, bud." I cried, melting into his strength.

"You gotta stop doing this to yourself," he whispered into my hair.

"I know," I whined as I clung to him. "Just take me back to the motel. I need a hot shower."

"You need the EMT's to give you some drugs."

"Motel, shower, sex, bed. In that order." He chuckled, pressed a kiss to my brow as he walked me towards the Tahoe. Looking up I smiled at Tank in the distance. He was talking to the sheriff, helping with the scene and seemed relieved to see me moving about.

When we reached the truck I grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, look… the fucker lied. The Tahoe still has its paint job."

"Aren't we fortunate."

"You've got to look to the bright side of things sometimes," I said with a smile. "I didn't get my ass blown to smithereens, the Tahoe doesn't need any work and we're going to try and save our marriage… again." Ranger shook his head at me. "Couldn't have turned out any better if we'd tried."

"If you say so, smarty pants. Now get in. I'm going to go and talk to the EMT's for a minute. I'll be right back." I nodded, climbed into the truck and watched him walk away.

So, hopefully we weren't getting a divorce. I felt relieved, but not untroubled. I still wasn't sure what Ranger and I were going to do, but I knew that the stupid things – like geography – that were hanging us up could be worked out. Just thinking about letting Ranger go hurt more than I'd thought it would, and who was to say that after a day or two I wouldn't have rushed right back into his arms anyway?

Looking over at him now, my heart swelled in my chest. I loved my husband. There was no denying that. The seeds that'd been planted years ago were still thriving under all the bullshit we'd laid. All we needed to do now was work out the details.

When Ranger finally came back to the truck, Tank in tow, he hopped into the drivers seat and handed me a of couple pills. "What are these?"

"They're going to help with your shoulder." I turned the little pills over in my hand and frowned. "Here." He said handing me a bottle of water.

"What are they?"

"Aleve." Shifting my eyes his way, I frowned.

"There's no markings on them."

Ranger put on his sunglasses, started the truck. "Take them."

"I don't want to take them."

"Don't be a baby."

"I'm not being a baby, I don't trust you." Ranger rolled his eyes at me. "Are you sure they're Aleve?"

"That's what they told me." He replied as he started to drive. When he realized I was still staring at him he glanced my way, frowned. "Take them, Rachel."

"I don't trust you." He laughed.

"I'm trying to help you and you don't trust me. Classic." He shook his head. "Rachel, _take the damn pills_." Groaning I twisted open the bottle of water, looked back at a very quiet Tank and placed the pills on my tongue.

"You know what I'm going to do to you if these aren't what you say they are."

"Totally aware." Ranger replied, his eyes staying on the road. "Swallow." He ordered and I glared at him while I sipped some water, felt the pills roll down my throat and _knew immediately _that I shouldn't have taken them. "Good girl."

I turned in my seat sulkily and looked out the passenger window. "Those weren't Aleve." Silence. "I've had Aleve. They have a sugar coating on them."

"I've never taken Aleve. Have you Tank?" Ranger replied, looking back in the rearview mirror as he drove.

"Can't say that I have."

Shaking my head at the both of them I stewed in my seat. "You both suck."

Ten minutes later when we pulled into the motel, Ranger turned and grinned at my passed out form. "She's gonna kill you when she wakes up, man." Tank said leaning forward.

"Serves her right. She should've gone to the hospital."

"They told you to only give her one."

"Two if the pain didn't ease in an hour." Ranger opened the truck door and went around to the passenger side and my sleeping body. "I knew in an hour she'd still be a pain in my ass so I gave her two."

Tank chuckled. "You are so dead."

Reaching into the truck Ranger gently lifted me into his arms, brushed his lips against my forehead and eyed the cuts on my face. "She'll be fine," he whispered, his attentions focused on my sleeping form. "Now get the door for us, would you?"


	31. Chapter 31

_**JE owns her characters, I'm just playing with them! ~ Maia **_

When I woke I had a killer headache, my shoulder throbbed and my stomach felt like I'd drank two bottles of wine the night before. Moaning softly I rolled over in bed, pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes and sniffed the air.

"I smell coffee." The bed dipped next to me and I squinted through one eye up at my husband. "Aleve my ass."

"You wouldn't go to the hospital."

"So you drugged me?" He smiled as he reached for a cup of coffee and teased me with it as he helped me move into a sitting position. Using my good arm I took the coffee from him and glared. "Don't you for one moment think that this coffee is gonna save your ass."

"Damn." He mumbled with a grin then glanced over at my shoulder and frowned. "You need a sling." I took a look at my vibrantly colored shoulder and sighed.

"That just screams gimpy." I said wrinkling my nose.

"Sweetheart, you _are_ a gimp at this point."

"Thanks for the reminder." I took my first sip of joe and moaned with delight. "Ohh, this tastes good." Ranger reached for a bag on the nightstand and plopped it onto the bed. "What's that?" I smelled cinnamon.

"I bought breakfast rolls."

"Now you're shooting below the belt." He flashed me a wicked grin.

Opening the bag, I melted when the sweet smell of cinnamon and sugar hit me in the face. Taking one out, I quietly counted calories, heard my stomach rumble and decided I didn't give a shit about my figure this morning. I couldn't really remember the last time I'd eaten, and if _I_ couldn't remember, that was _really_ bad.

We sat there together quietly enjoying our coffee and rolls, neither saying much, but each knowing there was a ton to say. It was Ranger who broke the silence first.

"Listen," he started, his eyes focused on the floor.

"That doesn't sound good."

He shifted his gaze my way and frowned. "A lot happened yesterday."

"I know."

"One minute we're fine, the next we're getting a divorce – "

"I think I can follow the program without a play by play." He stared at me. "What's your point?"

"I don't know where we stand right now." I tossed half of the roll back into the bag and tried to move out of bed with my coffee. Ranger held up a hand and stopped me.

"Where do you want us to be?" I questioned, because his answer would help a lot with mine.

Linking our fingers together, Ranger thought a moment before answering. "I can't imagine my life without you in it," I closed my eyes and didn't bother to mask the relief I felt. "But, I know that there are issues between the two of us that we've left unsettled. Issues I'm not sure we can settle." _That didn't sound good_.

"Sounds like you're giving up."

"No," he said firmly. "I don't know that I'll ever give up where you're concerned. You're always going to be a part of my heart, whether we're married or not." My stomach tightened. He wasn't heading in a positive direction. "You know," he continued. "When that house exploded yesterday my life flashed before my eyes. Nothing else mattered but you, Rachel. I didn't care about the words we'd spoken earlier, nor did it faze me that I knew you wanted out. All that mattered was that you were mine and I needed to protect you."

"I don't need your protection."

His smile was filled with pain. "No, you don't," he reached up, touched my face. "You don't really need anything from me."

I couldn't believe he'd just said that. Did he really believe it? "I need _you_." I replied. "And if truth be told I'm not sure I would've let you walk away."

"You said it's what you wanted."

"And we both know I say a lot when I'm angry."

"We both do." Ranger flipped my hand over in his, lifted it palm up to his lips and held it there for a moment. "We have a lot of love, but no compromise."

"True, but since we've," and I paused. "Gotten back together, for lack of better words… we've been surrounded by drama, by work and our jobs. We've been knee deep in issues. We've had friends and employees surrounding us constantly. Ranger, you and I haven't been alone yet, not really alone since all of this started. How can we know where we're going when we don't know where we are?"

"It shouldn't matter where we are."

Shaking my head I looked away. "I don't know what to do. I feel like you're telling me you don't want to try anymore, that you want to throw in the towel –"

"I'm trying to be rational for the both of us," he cut in. "The emotional roller coaster we rode yesterday was extreme. You can't go through that everyday and I don't want to. We need to decide if it's even possible," he stopped, reigning in the emotions slipping forth. "If it's possible we can fix this."

I pulled my hand from his grasp, shifted in the bed. My rock, my husband, the one man I'd always thought I could count on, the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with was struggling.

I couldn't help it… I started to cry.

"Okay," I whispered.

"Okay, what?" I said nothing, simply nodded and got out of bed. This time he didn't stop me. "I understand."

"Understand what?" He turned towards me, stared as I shook my head at him.

"What you're trying to tell me."

He got to his feet. "I don't even know what I'm trying to say, Rachel. How can you?"

"Because I know you, because I can see in your eyes that this is killing you." Ranger looked away. "You don't want to hurt anymore and you don't want me to hurt either."

"No. I don't."

"And despite all the pretty words you just laid on me, you're done." That kick started him a bit because Ranger turned my way quickly, shook his head.

"Rachel."

"This emotional roller coaster is still rolling, bud. And while we have enough love between the two of us for ten couples, there's a lot missing."

"Now who's throwing in the towel?"

I pointed at finger at him, chuckled. Again he was going to toss this into my lap. "_Do you want in or out_?" I said through clenched teeth. "Tell me now so that I know for sure. Don't pussy foot around the issue, stop trying to dance with me, just tell me what you want because right now I _do_ know what I want."

"What? What do you want?"

"No!" I yelled. "_What do you want_?"

"You!" His words echoed in the room, bounced around the walls and hit me dead in the heart. "I fucking want you, Rachel! I want the bullshit to go away and I want us to find a way to make this work. I'm tired of wishing we were past all of this. I want to get there already." I stared at him, my eyes filling with tears again. "God, woman… how could you even think I'd want anything else?"

"Because you're bouncing back and forth like a ping-pong ball and I can't tell if you're trying to hang on or let go."

He took me in his arms, cringed when I winced in pain. "I'm sorry…" he pressed a kiss to my brow when I moaned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Looking up at him I touched Ranger's face and sighed softly. "Go away with me?"

"When?"

"Now." I replied, thinking now was as good a time as ever.

"Alright." I raised an eyebrow at him and he smiled. "What?"

"Just like that?"

"No arguments." I grinned. "I'd do just about anything right now to keep us together."

"Me too." He bent his head and kissed me softly on the lips. "Pack your shit, Manoso, I'm taking you home."

"Home?" He said with a curious smile as I moved away.

Heading for the bathroom I flashed him a pretty smile. "_Our_ home," I replied. "Maybe if you spent some time there you might just remember how much you love being there." Ranger sighed softly.

"Okay," he said with a nod and I inwardly jumped for joy. Turning back for the bathroom I stopped when he called out to me, "You're not thinking of showering alone, are you?"

"Only if you don't want to join me."

"Can't have you falling in the shower. You might re-injure that shoulder."

I smiled at Ranger and I slipped out of my clothes. "You'd better hold me close then, just to keep me safe."

"I intend to." No sweeter words could have been said...

_***~* The End *~***_

**This is the ending of this portion of Rachel and Ranger's story, but I've already started on another. I promised you they would be heading back to Jersey to help Joe and Stefanie with those murders, and they will. Stay tuned! ~ Maia**


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